Dark Shadows
by Soshika
Summary: Nelkf is an ill tempered alien with a rather aggressive way of greeting people. Jax is a clueless smuggler who doesn't quite get Nelkf's way of life. And Cial's just completely idioticly loveable. And how they got together...is really weird.
1. Default Chapter

Dark Shadows

Dark Shadows

  
Originally named Dark Guardian: Preface

Nelkf Karlian stood over the hull of her destroyed Y-wing. Her race, the Sklinths, didn't curse, but at that instant, Nelkf wished they did. It was not to say she didn't swear. She had left her home world of Exlan twelve when she was but a child and many of her laws were long since forgotten. At least other races cursed. Nelkf spat something in Aqualish and leapt off the nose of the grounded fighter.   
Her astromech, a little orange R2 unit named Slek twittered impatiently beside her. The droid knew this was not where they should be. They were supposed to be escorting a diplomatic ship. That was hours ago. Things had turned sour very quickly for them. A Star Destroyer came from the shadow of the planet and destroyed the diplomatic ship. The fighters scrambled against TIEs and many were killed. At the last instant, the survivors leapt away. An X-wing offered Nelkf help, but she was too independent to accept it. Foolish, she had been engaged in a dogfight with far too many TIE fighters then she could handle on her own. As a result, they went down.   
Yes, they were stuck, and the rocky, mountainous terrain did not suit the little droid well. He hummed nervously. Lekan, the planet they had been stranded on, was well known for it's ferocious inhabitants, and many of the more deadly species dwelled in the mountains. His Sklinthi companion felt differently about their situation though.   
It was typical of her race to have foul tempers and be intolerant of everything around them, and Nelkf was no exception. Right now, she had no idea of the danger surrounding her. Nor would she have cared had she known. Her race focused on one thing at a time, perhaps resulting in their bad short-term memories.   
When Nelkf had signed on with the New Republic two years ago, she hadn't expected adventures like this. She was hoping to rebuild her life, not get shot down by long hidden Imperials. Well, she thought, it's not like Lekan is the most frequently traveled system. You should have expected some sort of trouble. She wasn't the type to go on adventures anyway. She was a pilot, not an adventurer.   
Angry, she looked around her for something to vent her wrath upon. Nothing soft or fragile met her eye, and the rocks of the cliff face were more iron ore then real stone. The frustrated alien snorted and kicked the carbon-scorched hull of her fighter. Something inside hissed and belched smoke. Nelkf flicked her smooth meter-and-a-half long tail and sat down on a stone. She glared hard, concentrating her anger on a helpless pebble at her feet. The short R2 unit tottered over to her and began to beep, attempting to comfort her. She turned on it, her mood far from welcoming.   
"You think I give a dubba clam's foot where we are?!" she snapped at him. She had spent a long time over the past two years deciphering the binary speech of droids, and she was fairly good at it. It came in handy once in a while. The tiny orange droid wailed in his mechanical way. "There isn't a hostile critter for miles, Tin Can. Our crash scared them all away."   
Slek squealed even louder.   
"Yeah, good luck," she snorted. "According to the data tapes I've checked out, the nearest outpost is at the bottom of Mount Farshan, wherever that is."   
Slek snapped angrily at her. She hadn't had his memory cleared, and he was quite capable of arguing with her.   
"You figure it out," she snarled, "you're the navigator, not me!"   
Slek squealed and began to hunt through his data banks. Nelkf continued to talk with no one in particular.   
"I guess what we should do now is get our survival materials out of the ship and wait for a rescue team."   
Slek hummed innocently. A listener would never have suspected a thing, but Nelkf understood him and so she knew better.   
"Shut up Birdie, droids aren't supposed to know how to curse. No, the survivors probably don't know we've lived through that Landing' of yours, but they can figure it out. I mean, it isn't like they're all Humans."   
Slek wailed again. He wasn't so sure they could figure out they were still alive. The odds were fantastic. He was surprised they had made it. If they made it to the outpost and a working radio, they could call for help. There was only one small problem. He couldn't find Mt. Farshan. He bleeped this to Nelkf.   
"What do you mean you can't find it?! It's a mountain for crying out loud! We're on the right planet aren't we?"   
Slek hummed nervously. An angry Sklinth was not someone to be stuck on a mountain with.   
"Maybe..." Nelkf paused for a moment, "Hey Slek?"   
Slek twittered his presence.   
"Could we be on Mount Farshan?"   
The droid whistled back.   
"Thought so," she climbed to her feet and brushed off her flight suit, "Come on. We have to get the survival kit from the fighter. If we're lucky, we might find a working radio and call back to the base."   
Slek screeched in an upset tone.   
"I'll call it base if I want to. I don't care if they're not called bases anymore. Damn astromechs."   
Slek wailed angrily at her.   
"Oh, shut up. What difference does it make to you?"   
If Slek had any way to show his disapproval, he did a good job of it. Nelkf hoisted a knapsack she had pulled from the Y-wing over her shoulder. Starting down the mountain, she motioned for the droid to follow her. 

Do you care? do you like it? do you hate it? it's several years old, i wrote it as a freshman in high school..that was four years ago *smirkz* wanna see the next part? don't? tough. it's getting posted anyway. 

**TBC**(to be continued) 

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	2. Enter the bad guy. (oooo)

**Dark Shadows**  


The Imperial Star Destroyer Quickkill moved sluggishly throughout the space surrounding Lekan. It knew nothing of the goings on in on the planet below it or on the goings on within itself. Never would it have cared if it did. The Universe was only a trivial thing to a ship. 

One man who did care was Admiral Rakson. The cold Imperial officer wanted nothing more then to see the Empire to be reestablished. He had been watching this world for far too long. He would never turn to the Rebel side. He was no fool. 

Things had been far too boring for Rakson here. He was practically overjoyed when some foolish Rebels blundered into his space. Perhaps he had overreacted a bit when he destroyed the Rebel ship, but his men had reported a Rebel fighter went down on the world. Perhaps it would not be a total loss. 

If the pilot had survived the landing, the being would find them self in a maximum-security prison complex for criminals of all or any type. And if help returned for them... Rakson laughed quietly to himself. Oh, this would be fun. 


	3. Ah, @#$*%...Much caught.

**Dark Shadows**  


Nelkf skidded down the rocky slop and landed hard at the bottom. She winced as pain surged through her back and legs. Unlike many alien species, Sklinths looked almost completely Human with a few exceptions. The most obvious of these was her long, furless tail. Unlike a Ranat's, it was not segmented. In fact, Nelkf looked down on creatures with segmented tails, feeling they were inferior. Another attribute was the strangely colored glowing eyes the species tended to have. Nelkf herself had bright green eyes, the same color of laser bolts. Strangely, Sklinths also possessed a quicker working immune system then Humans. Also, average female Sklinths possessed the strength of a well-built Human male. Other then those things, Sklinths looked entirely Human. 

Thus, the climb was easy for Nelkf, but Slek was a different story. The poor R2 unit wailed and teetered dangerously on the narrow ledge. He shrieked desperately to Nelkf for help. 

"Just let yourself fall, Bucket Boy," she replied with a snicker, "it's not like you can get hurt." 

Slek did not see the least bit comforted. He continued to screech and refused to move. Nelkf climbed back up the ridge and sat next to the whimpering droid. The Sklinth let out a strange sniffle-snort and opened her knapsack. 

"I guess we should stop for a rest anyway," she grumbled, "I'm not used to this thin mountain air," she pulled some unappetizing concentrates from her bag and nibbled the corner of one. It tasted like a nerf that had fallen into a trash compactor only to be torched by a dying A-wing's hyperdrive engine. After a few moments of thoughtful chewing, she spat the offending matter on the ground. "Sorry I don't have a charger," she apologized to the droid, "but I don't think you'd want these even if I could give them to you." 

Slek said something in agreement. From what other organics said, concentrates were the equivalent of dirty lubricants. Once, Nelkf had broken into the storehouse for some of the concentrates and burned the place down. She was never caught, but Slek wasn't so sure that the organics would press charges. After all, like Nelkf had said, "it was for the greater good." He wasn't so sure he'd ever understand organics. 

Nelkf went through her survival pack for the umpteenth time. It was still the same; a vibroknife, a bag of concentrates, a two days supply of fresh water, a thermal suit, a hold-out blaster and a ruined commlink. Enough to keep her alive, and if she hadn't dropped the commlink, to call for help. Nelkf cursed the commlink and herself before kicking it off the ridge. She watched it roll along, knocking small stones loose. She hoped it would cause an avalanche and crush a village or something. That would cheer her up. 

"So much for that," she said aloud, kicking a few pebbles after it for good measure, "What kind of a place is this outpost anyway?" 

Slek whistled mournfully. 

"What do you mean?" growled Nelkf, leaning threateningly close to the droid. 

The little R2 unit twittered apologetically. 

"Damnit!" Nelkf hurled a rock at the tiny droid. "Slek, why didn't you go for your last upgrade?" 

Slek whistled angrily at her once again. 

"No, of course not. It's never your fault," she said sarcastically. After a few moments she let out a heavy sigh. "I guess you're right. I did tell you to rig Neno's X-wing to smoke. I suppose it is my fault you missed that upgrade." 

Slek twittered confidently. 

"Don't start getting cocky. I just admitted to what I told you to do. You could have gone later on," Suddenly, Nelkf sat very rigid. Something was moving in the shrubbery to her left and it didn't sound friendly. She snatched up her holdout blaster and set it on full power. Whatever was coming towards her was at least her size, if not bigger. 

Had she caught a glimpse of white moving in the shrubbery? She was puzzled. What's white that lives in the green? She wondered. This isn't Hoth or any other ice world. What's going on? She fixed her aim on the white spot and took cover behind a boulder. She trained the blaster expertly. Just like old times. 

Without warning, the bushes parted and out strolled a stormtrooper scout. Even if he did act overconfident, he was still armed, and well from the looks of it. Nelkf knew that in her bright orange flight suit, she would be an easy target, running or not. She dare not leave the cover of the rock. An old maxim she used to work by flashed through Nelkf's mind. Kill or be killed. 

She leapt out of hiding and snapped off a shot in the stormtrooper's direction. One miss and the trooper shot back. Nelkf was lucky. He was disoriented and surprised, she dodged the bolt easily. A second shot from her blaster soon ended his life. Her intrusion would go unnoticed a while longer. She stood up, coolly surveying the smoldering corpse. Slek twerped urgently beside her. 

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming," she set the blaster on recharge, "Still, I wonder what that Imperial bastard was doing here. Well, if his head weren't melted into a stinking slime, I might ask him." 

Slek nudged her with his mechanical arm. He wanted to leave as soon as possible in case the late scout wasn't traveling alone. Nelkf hoisted her knapsack over her shoulder and slid down the rock cliff. "I almost got my tail fried good that time," Slek whistled in agreement, "I think I've had my share of lifetime noble good-bad battles now. Hurry it up Slek!" 

The tiny droid wailed and toppled end over end to the next ledge. Nelkf laughed and skidded to join him. "Well, now we know you're no mountain sloth. Get a move on. I want to reach the outpost before dark." 

Nelkf moved on ahead. Slek chose the easiest trail after her, let out a mechanical "wait for me" and tottered along as quickly as his wheels could move him. 


	4. @.@;; caught.

**Dark Shadows**  


Nelkf stood above the outpost, looking down from a cliff outcropping. A string of swear words in every language she knew grew steadily louder. Well, from the looks of it, she'd gotten her tail in a fine stew this time. 

There was a strong outer wall, impenetrable unless a starship blew it in. Yet another wall surrounded what looked to be an exercise field. A few small buildings were built within the complex, seeming more plain and drab then Nelkf would have ever thought possible. The impressive view was not what pumped fear through her. No, far from it. For, atop the wall, inside it, and all around it stood stormtroopers. Nelkf glared at her droid. This was all his fault! If he had gotten that upgrade, they'd have known about this! She glanced up, snarling at the Sklinthi sun god. Well Necho, she thought, you did it to me again. Do you enjoy watching me squirm? Well, this time the lab nerf has teeth. She slid the vibroknife down into her boot, but not so far that she couldn't reach it in a jam. She pulled out her blaster and took it off safety. Now it was a matter of getting back to her fighter and trying to see what she could rig up with that radio. She muttered at the droid. 

"Let's go Slek," she growled. 

The droid made no reply. 

"Bolt brain?" she swore mentally. Of all the rotten.... What a time for him to short circuit. 

She almost got up to leave the inert droid until she felt a sharp, cold hand on her shoulder. The unmistakable voice of a stormtrooper barked at her. She could feel those big fake, dopey eyeballs burning into her back. 

"Okay, get up. Now." 

She slid up to her feet, concealing the small blaster in her hands. The trooper restraining her had a rifle in one hand. Once again, she swore violently under her breath. How can I fight that? As if to further complicate matters, two dozen more troopers emerged from the cover around her to assist in the capture. Well, Nelkf readied her blaster, I'm not letting these undertrained wimps take me in. They don't know who they're dealing with here. A few of these boys won't see me back to their...their...whatever it is. She fixed her angered gaze on the leader and growled defiantly in his face. "First rule of dealing with Nelkf Karlian," She pulled lose her gun and shot him throughout the heart. She grinned happily, taking pleasure in the momentary confusion. "Don't mess with me when I'm stressed." 

The other twenty some stormtroopers flocked around Nelkf, eager to foil her escape. She felled only one more before her small holdout blaster was useless. Someone grabbed her from behind. She flipped her tail up and slammed it into his helmet, knocking him out. She dipped down and snatched up the vibroblade. She began to fight, but it was a far stretch from the vibrodaggers she used to use and it wouldn't slice armor. Soon, she found herself restrained from behind, struggling madly. Someone jammed a foot down on her tail and she shrieked in pain. The vibroblade was knocked from her hand, and she was soon defenseless. She spat at one of troopers, and the small droplet of saliva slid down the black goggle hiding his left eye. He didn't bother to wipe it away. 

"You stormies are all the same!" She snarled. "Gutless, soulless, cowering nerfs with no minds of your own! You were probably hatched! No real Being could be as twisted as you!" 

The leader snapped at her. "Save your breath Rebel scum. You'll need it for screaming during your interrogation." 

Nelkf laughed, hiding her fear out of habit. "There's nothing you could create that could make me even whimper. As for calling us Rebels, we're of the New Republic. That's all there is, no more," she grinned smugly as they dragged her, still squirming back to their base. 


	5. yet another short short villian chapter ...

**Dark Shadows**  


"We have captured the Rebel pilot, Sir. As you've suspected, she matches the retinal scans. She will undergo interrogation until all information you have requested is given." 

Rakson sat with his hands folded on top of the plasteel desk. An evil smirk oozed its way onto his features. He enjoyed nothing more then witnessing pain in sub-humans. He nodded towards the miniature hologram of Supervisor Weefs. "Excellent, Supervisor. I shall come down to meet this alien scum personally." He sneered as he pictured the foolish alien screaming in agony. He stood up and began to move for the commlink to the shuttle bay. One thing troubled him still, should he use electrical or chemical methods of interrogation? Ah well, that answer would come in time. 


	6. enter the smuggler (waii waii! n.n)

**Dark Shadows**  


Nelkf hit the cell wall hard. In front of her she could just make out a fuzzy white blob shutting the door. She hoped she hadn't gotten her vision permanently damaged in that little...scuffle. She reached up to rub her aching skull. She could feel blood, and it made her curse out loud. What harm could it do? 

To her left, in the shadows, some one spoke. "Yeah, you'll be bleeding a bit. At this point you should be grateful they left you blood to bleed with." 

Nelkf dragged herself to her feet. So that was what they had done. They had taken blood samples. Damn, damn, double damn! No wonder she was dizzy. She steadied herself with her tail, scanning the dimly lit room with her glowing green eyes. That made her angry. "How would you know?" she snarled at the being. She was unable to see past the loss of blood. 

"Because when you've been here a year," one shadow began to leave the others behind, "you get to know the routines. And believe me Xeno, that's no tromp through the botanical gardens of Coruscant." 

Nelkf began to grin. Her cellmate was a Human. All that pushing around... the crash.... The capture.... She was just itching to take it out on someone. 

She tried to jump, but the blood tests had made her weak, and she fell. She snarled angrily and swung her tail, but the Human simply stepped out of range. He knelt beside her, and she turned her head to bite him. 

"Whoa! Take it easy!" he exclaimed, leaping back. 

"Get away from me!" 

"It's okay, I only want to help. Why do you want to kill me? We only just met. This isn't the best way to start off a friendship." 

"Sklinths hate Humans," she snarled, curling back her upper lip and letting out an animal growl. 

"Sorry to hear it. Is that what you are?" the Human cocked his head as if he really wanted to help Nelkf. 

"Don't forget it, bastard. Now get the Sith away from me before I get mad!" 

"You're in a good mood now?" the Human shook his head and laughed. He had brown hair, a slightly darker shade then Nelkf's, but still a nice color. "You know, we Humans aren't all that bad." 

She growled and backed away from him, daring him to get any closer. "Any species that dictates what so much of the Galaxy should say and do and think can't be good. That's what I think of you and your little governments." 

The Human rolled his eyes partially. "Yeah, well, nice to meet you too. I'm Jax. Actually, my real name is Aarx Jaklen, but I hate it." 

"Nelkf Karlian's the name," Nelkf snarled, "For all the good it will do you. You wouldn't know what it means." 

"Well, anyway Nelkf-" 

"Karlian!" she snapped. 

Jax chose to ignore her insistence. "Would you maybe like to get off the floor now?" he extended a hand to help her up. 

She glared at it like it was a rabid draagax. 

The Human Jax laughed again. "Come on. It's only a hand. It doesn't have fangs." 

She carefully let him help her up. One eye was trained suspiciously on him at all times. He smiled when she stood across from him. For a Sklinth, Nelkf was very plain looking, but she guessed the Human found her attractive. Strangely, she did not feel the burning disgust she knew she should. 

"So, anyway, why are you here? A nice alien like you doesn't just land in Imperial hands and get thrown in here for no reason," Jax smiled. 

Oh, please, Nelkf thought. "That is something I would rather not talk about. All I will say is I flew an Y-wing that crashed here. They have a little grudge against me, those Imps," she looked at him suspiciously for the millionth time. "What about you?" 

"Ah," Jax smiled like it was a badge of honor and he was being asked how he earned it. "Let's just say I was a little careless on my last shipment." 

Wonderful. I'm stuck in an Imperial hotbed with a Human smuggler. What else can go wrong? Suddenly, Nelkf felt dizzier, and had to sit down or risk humiliating herself with a faint. Something told her she was not simply suffering from blood loss. 

Jax apparently noticed. "Got their attention, you did. They gave you this truth serum stuff. They call it TYNAX. I call it a scientific hangover." 

Nelkf swore mentally. Not only did they now know everything about her, but they also knew she was....... 

No, no, those days were dead. She wasn't that... that....person anymore. That person was dead. She tried to distract herself with other thoughts. 

Hmmm. There was a curios thought. She knew a lot about truth serums. She had purposefully developed immunities to all of the New Republic ones. She had secrets in her past that she wanted no one else to know. 

So, this was a new one. But that would mean it would have to have been developed here, on this world. But what were they doing developing truth serums in an Imperial prison? She tried to get more information from the smuggler. Knowledge was power. "TYNAX. That's a new creation, isn't it?" 

"I suppose to you it would be," he said with a grin. Nelkf hardly noticed. 

"So why are they developing truth serums here?" she said with hardly a tint of gratitude in her voice. 

The Human paced the cell. He didn't seem worried, simply bored. "I've got news for you Nelkf," for a second time he ignored her wishes not to be called by her first name. "This isn't just a prison. It's a testing lab. And you and me, we're the test subjects." 

"Sounds like the double crossing bigots," she snarled. 

"Yeah, Imps decided a ways back that animals aren't as good for testing as Humans," he glanced at her, showing he was not thinking only of his race. "Or other races." 

Ally, a small voice in the back of her head suggested. It sounded just fine to Nelkf. She couldn't stay here. She may as well take someone with her while she escaped. If for nothing else, she could use the smuggler as a decoy to lure the Imperials away from her scent. "So the fools built this as a prison and furnished it as a lab," she shook her head, forcing a smile, but keeping her cold glare trained on the Human, lest he try something funny. "I have to hand it to the bastards. Sometimes they seem almost sentient." 

The Human nodded back, aware that she was still insulting his race. "Yeah, every once in a while those Imps think of something good. Not often, but it happens." 

Something told Nelkf to switch the subject. It was getting dangerously close to home. "So, what were you smuggling when you got caught?" 

"Oh, you know. Anything I can. Contraband, mostly." 

"I'm guessing it was some sort of drug," Nelkf growled. "How you Humans take advantage of other species' weaknesses is staggering." 

Jax skillfully pulled them back on topic. "Well, anyhow, I was passing through this area to avoid difficulties, and out of no-where comes this Star Destroyer and knocks me down. I killed a few stormies on my way in. I don't think they liked that. I don't see why." 

Finally! Some sense in this guy! "Welcome to the club Jax. I left a nice impression on a few stormtroopers myself before they got me. I've had quite a bit of vibrodagger training, and it was fun to use the old skills." 

"You know Nelkf," this time she let the Human use her first name. He smiled. "I think you and I are going to get to be good pals." 

She sniffed, but smiled tauntingly. "Don't count on it." 

"You might just be interested in what I have to say about their little toys and stuff. It's important to get an idea of what they're going to do to you." 

"Agreed. With these new truth serums-" 

"Like TYNAX," Jax interrupted. 

She glared warningly at him and continued. Her old training begged her to kill him, but she ignored it. "-it will be important to know what they have to throw at me." 

The smuggler shrugged. "Most everyone does, unless they want to wind up as lab meat." 

Nelkf gave him a knowing stare. She knew what knowledge meant. It was all the difference between life and death to someone like her. 


	7. fried sklinth :D

**Dark Shadows**  


Nelkf's howling Sklinthi screams filled the cell. Blue intense electricity flashed from where her wrists gripped the cell's bars. Though they were losing feeling, Nelkf held on. 

Jax sat calmly nearby, watching the Sklinth's hopeless protest. He shook his head, pondering how Nelkf could hold out so long under the shocking. When he had first tried that, the initial jolt threw him clear across the room. I never tried that again. My head was spinning for weeks. 

He grew tired of Nelkf's howls and walked over beside her. "Nelkf, just let go of the bars. No one pays any attention to you." 

Nelkf growled, but tried to release her grip. Calling on whatever strength she had left, she pried her hands away form the bars. The electricity yielded its prize reluctantly, but finally she fell back onto the floor. Her strength completely drained, she couldn't get up. How humiliating. Jax knelt beside her, completely unsure how to react. 

"Why did you shock yourself so long?" he asked her. "No one would care, even if you died in here." 

Nelkf's voice came in short gasping breaths. Her lungs were working strangely now, and her air supply was constantly changing. "I...was...training," she forced out. Jax seemed to have just managed to clone himself several times. What was more, they spun around like a drunken kaleidoscope. She forced herself to fight back the gag reflex. She couldn't let a Human think her weak, even Jax. She pulled herself upright and sat, ignoring the dizziness and nausea. 

"You feeling better now?" Jax asked her. 

She blinked several times, letting things return to normal. The multiple Jaxes melted back into one. And one Jax is enough in the Universe. She stood up, letting the dizziness come, but not letting it force her back to her knees. "More so by the minute. The Sklinthi immune system is faster and stronger then the Human's." 

"Too bad their brains aren't," she caught him grumble. She had not been intended to hear the remark, but she had. 

It took her instinct less then an instant to punch him hard in the jaw. Not hard enough to break it, but enough so that Jax was sent sprawling backwards. Stop! the humane part of her mind screamed, You're supposed to be friends! He isn't some jerk in a cantina or some bastard Human. He's nice! Apologize! Nelkf was just a tad relationship challenged. She didn't blush; it would make her seem weak, but that rare felt sense of guilt crept into her mind. She bit her lip and extended a hand to help him up. "Er, sorry. Sometimes I just don't think before I strike." 

Jax blinked, looking at her in disbelief. A fist mark was beginning to show on his cheek. "I'll say! Sith, with a fist like that, who needs a vibroknife?" 

She frowned. "Well, you deserved it!" she snarled. She pouted a moment before coming to and obviously awkward decision. "No hard feelings?" 

Jax smiled and laughed. "None whatsoever," Nelkf was surprised to discover herself finding his smile somewhat attractive. What's up with you Karlian? Snap out of it! "That reminds me," continued Jax, "Why did you try to make yourself into a well done rancor dinner?" 

"I told you, training," Nelkf hated repeating herself. 

"For interrogation?" Jax shook his head, "Nelkf, it's like I told you. If this were an ordinary prison, sure, your 'training' might work, but this is a lab. You can get a good idea of what they'll throw at you, but you can't prepare for it." 

"Maybe not flyboy," Nelkf turned to the electrically charged bars again. "But Necho see me, I sure will try," With a final sniff, she threw herself against the bars, sending shock pulsating through every nerve in her body. 

Jax sighed heavily and sat down to watch her again. 

Jax never knew, and Nelkf never could have guessed that they were being watched every second. Rakson stood idly beside the one-way glass, watching the foolish alien shock herself into a stupor. Her spirit was admirable, but he would have guessed her to be more intelligent. 

All around him stood the twisted Imperil chemical scientists. Rakson hated them and despised being in their presence. Science was a wasteful thing. He could be using what small amounts of credits given to the research to invest secretly in more operations. Like his men on Tatooine. No one knew about them, but they would jump at his very word. Yes, he could do more useful things with that money rather then letting them toy with chemistry set. 

He glanced over to see how they were taking this in. The fight between the prisoners, the constant shocking the Sklinth brought upon herself, all were viewed as purely instinctive actions. At least Rakson agreed with them there. The Rebels, the smugglers, the aliens, were animals. Apes at best. No room for rational thought. Good for laboratory experiments, nothing more. 

The interrogation of the Rebel pilot might take place sooner then he had expected. At the rate she was weakening herself, Rakson may as well meet her now. He turned to one of the stormtroopers flanking the door. "You, bring me that prisoner. I wish to greet her before I break her." 

The stormtrooper saluted and moved off. The Rebel would soon pay for the deaths she had caused. 


	8. Nelkf and Jax sittin in a tree...K-I-S-S...

**Dark Shadows**  


Jax lowered his head again. I never thought I'd be giving a Sklinth mouth-to-mouth resuscitation in an Imperial pen. 

That crazy Nelkf had really fried herself this time. She had gripped the bars and screamed until she had nothing left and passed out. When she had fallen, Jax didn't know what to do at first. He had met girls before, but none of them ever seemed to need his help. Nelkf hadn't been breathing, and well, that was a red flag that he should help. But the fact of the matter was, if Nelkf were awake now, she would deny needing any help at all. But if she were awake, stupid, you wouldn't have to be trying to make her start breathing again! Jax shook his head in a confused way and returned to his task. Actually, this was probably the closest Nelkf would ever let him come to kissing her. 

That brightened his mood a bit. 

A moment later, Nelkf flicked open her eyes. To awaken with someone only a few millimeters from your face is not a nice thing, and Nelkf's mood was far from pleasant. She swung‚ an angry palm at Jax, but he dodged and backed away. 

"What's the big idea flyboy?" she snarled, standing up. 

"You weren't breathing," he told her, matter of factly. If the Sklinth wanted to start an argument, that suited him just fine. 

"I would have started again," she sniffed, "I told you, the Sklinthi immune system is more effective then the Human's," deep inside she knew Jax meant well...or did he? Humans were nasty beings with dirty minds. He could have done a despicable thing while she was unconscious. In which case, he must die. 

No, the humane voice sang again, He wouldn't do such a thing. He's your friend. Come on, you know it. You trust him. You're just frustrated that you needed help. 

Nelkf sniffed. Okay, it was true, but that didn't make her trust all Humans. She just trusted Jax. Marginally. "Sorry Jax, I'm just not used to needing help. Usually, I can go it solo." "Hey, it's okay. I'd rather be snarled at then slugged by you anyway." 

Yeah, that was bantha fodder. She knew it. No one wanted to face her, tongue or fists. She had dirt on everyone. Even people she had barely met, like Jax. She could whip up an insult so awful, it could make a stormtrooper cry. She was nasty. 

At this point, perhaps for the better, the cell door slid open and a stormtrooper marched in. He brandished a blaster rifle with enough firepower to turn a Wookiee to charcoal, Nelkf guessed. He pointed it directly at the Sklinth's chest and motioned for her to move. "Put these on," he ordered, casting a pair of restraints at her feet. "Let's go. We haven't got all millennium." 

Nelkf snarled in his face and dropped into a fighting stance. Her fighting instinct had total control. She could have killed him, but she felt a Human hand grip her shoulder. 

"Nelkf, just go with him. If you kill him, twenty more will be ready to take his place. You can't win this one." 

Nelkf sighed and picked up the restraints. "This once, I listen to Human advice. But that worm owes me blood," she snapped the restraints shut around her wrists. She walked reluctantly over to the trooper, letting it be perfectly clear that she would kill him the instant she got a chance. She could feel his rifle barrel digging into her spinal cord. One shot and I'd be flickodog meat. 

She began to walk, slowly and reluctantly down the hall. The trooper's soulless voice penetrated her anger and sent her spiraling into a much deeper emotion -fear. 

"You're about to be interrogated." 

Her eyes shot open and she tried to lunge back into the safety of her cell. "Jax! Jax, help! I'm going to be interrogated! Help meeeeeeeee!" 

Jax looked up, hearing her screams. He leapt for the closing door, too late. "NO!" the door slid shut, sealing him inside. He pounded on it with his fists. Still, it did not yield. He leapt at the bars, forgetting the electric current. "Nelkf!" his cry was cut short as he was thrown back against the wall. Nelkf was on her own now. Wait, maybe not... 


	9. very screwed. n.n;;

**Dark Shadows**  


The trooper pushed the now protesting Nelkf forcefully down the hall. Even with the restraints on and the threat of being shot, she struggled to disobey. Her shrieks and cries bounced off the synthirock walls, capturing the attention of other prisoners and guards. One prisoner, an old gray alien of some type called advice to her from between the bars of his own cell. 

"Don't fight it, Girl. You'll find yourself there no matter how much noise you make." 

Nelkf stopped her hellish cries. He's right, she reflected. I should save my strength and words for whatever Imperial flickodog meat is in charge of my interrogation. She started to walk carefully, putting up a facade of bravery, her savage green eyes reflecting the anger within her. 

The trooper snorted a laugh as he pushed Nelkf along. "Decide to save yourself a little dignity, Xeno?" 

She glared angrily at him, wishing his blaster were in her hands. Harsh words don't do as much damage as a blaster bolt, but that's what I'm stuck with I guess. "Dignity? What do I care about dignity? I'm plotting your grisly demise, Plasteel Boy," she prepared to aim a glob of spit at his eye, but a sudden movement caught her attention. 

The door they had stopped in front of was now sliding open to reveal a room full of uniformed dull looking men. They were obviously Imperials. 

Another man stood there, obviously superior. Nelkf felt the need to snap his neck. He moved fluidly forward arms open as if to imply welcome. He spoke, his voice as reptilian as his appearance. "Ah, greetings Rebel. I am Admiral Rakson." 

Nelkf was waiting for this. "Rakeson? Raisin? Rattler? Never heard of ya'. But you know, even if I did, I wouldn't care. You're only a stinkin' Imp after all." 

"Your courage is admirable, but what these scientists have concocted will take more then simply courage to endure," he shot a sly smirk at her that made her stomach turn. "You are but the nerf here. I am the rancor." 

Nelkf's eyes began to glint savagely in the dim green light they themselves created. Deep inside her, she felt the need to maim, to kill, to murder. Damn these restraints! If they were off, I'd have more then my tongue to fight with! Unfortunately for her, the trooper had made sure the cuffs were tight around her wrists, and no matter how she twisted them and shifted her wrist bones, she could not pull free. She had to do something! Good thing planning insults and comebacks. "Well Rokeson, or whatever the Sith your name is, if you're the rancor and I'm the nerf, I'd start checking my food for poisoning if I were you." 

Rakson was becoming annoyed. He leaned down and stared Nelkf in her sharply lit eyes. "Is that a threat, Rebel?" 

Nelkf sniffed, but didn't turn away from his unblinking stare. Nothing could suppress her flippant attitude. "Maybe. You'll never know until it's too late though." 

"Don't toy with me, Rebel scum!" 

"Don't contradict yourself Imperial Dog!" 

Rakson backed up, casting a critical eye over his alien prisoner. "I have no time for foolishness my little nerf, so I will cut to the chase. I believe you will find the real version of TYNAX much more interesting then the diluted form you were given earlier. Especially since your race never uses any form of drugs," his sickening grin penetrated her once again, making her want to vomit. 

When the word TYNAX entered her mind, she sucked in a quick gasp. One of the scientists moved from the others, a syringe with some sticky yellow serum. The needle came closer and closer to Nelkf's arm. A chill ran through her. Needles terrified her. 

Through her cloud of fears, Nelkf felt a deep hatred for Rakson and all for his lackeys. From within, her natural need for defiance of Humans surfaced. Before she had a chance to shift her arm, the stormtrooper grasped it and forced it forward. Rakson grinned evilly at the prisoner's struggle. 

"Now, you will experience the full brunt of the TYNAX serum." 

Abruptly, from the hallway there came a noise, like the sound of blasters firing and receiving no return fire. The door began to slide up, but stopped partway and a slim form ducked under it. The doctor holding the serum dropped it in surprise and fell to the floor to get out of the range of fire. 

The figure that had entered the room stood up and shook his head of scraggly brown hair. 

Rakson snarled and drew back. "No! Not you again! You've been implanted! You can't make here! You'll-" 

"I'll get one helluva migraine is what I'll get!" 

Nelkf leapt in surprise. "Jax!" she was cut off as the trooper slid forward and cupped a hand over her mouth. 

"Aarx," Rakson began. "I tire of your constant escapes. Yet, your elusiveness of the mindkill device intrigues me. I wonder if it has short circuited," Rakson cocked his head in a taunting and evil way, awaiting Jax's reply. 

"Don't worry Rakson," Jax squeezed his eyes shut, obviously trying to fight pain and vertigo. "Your little toy is working just fine. I can't tell left from right just like you assholes planned." 

Nelkf noticed his breathing was shallow. He must be feeling pretty dizzy by now. If they implanted a mindkill device in a simple smuggler, I wonder what they'll do to me, a New Republic pilot? Nelkf suddenly felt a slight respect for Jax. Humans were supposed to be too weak to withstand such pain. Jax obviously had something other Humans didn't. Courage? Willpower? 

Jax shivered and fell against the wall. "Nelkf! Get out! Move! Do something! Get out of here!" 

The Sklinth bit the stormtrooper restraining her and he let go with a yelp. "And leave you like that in the middle of an Imp nest?" Nelkf flipped the stormtrooper over her back and smashed his body into the floor. "Forget it pal! I'm staying!" 

It took the scientists a minute to survey the situation and take action. They pulled small tranquilizers from their lab coats and started towards the two escapees. 

Jax spotted them coming and dragged a small blaster from behind his back. He couldn't aim, the vertigo was too intense, but snapping off a few shots at whoever happened to be in his way wasn't that bad a thing. Unfortunately, before two of the scientists fell, a stun bolt form the hallway behind him shot Jax down in the back. He let out a cry of pain and the small blaster slid away. One of the scientists picked it up and pointed it nervously at him. 

Nelkf saw him go down and rushed away from the ongoing battle and knelt by his side. "Jax! Get up! Now! We're going to get out! Get moving!" she shook the unconscious form hard. "Ja-" 

She was cut short as a tranquilizer penetrated her vulnerable skin. Rakson hovered in her vision, laughing evilly. "Did I forget to mention, Rebel, that our tranquilizers are three-fourths diluted TYNAX?" 

Nelkf's eyes began to fall shut. Her arms wouldn't respond anymore, her eyes were showing her colors she didn't even know existed. She fell to the hard cold stone floor, the image of Rakson stuck in her vision. 


	10. ya know if ya just took the #*%@ serum w...

**Dark Shadows**  


The room slowly came back into focus. Nelkf found, to her surprise, that she neither on a lab table or back in the cell she had originally been put in. She was now confined, in all extremes, in an entirely plasteel box. There were no repulsor cots. She guessed that was how Jax had gotten out in the first place. Jax...She was alone. In a blind panic, her imagination began to run away with her. What if I'm in some other body or something? She did a quick check. Unless they had found another green-eyed Sklinthi body, she was still herself. Did they implant me with one of those devices they put in Jax's brain? Maybe. What if I've been cloned? If I have, how can I tell if I'm the real me, or the cloned me? Where's Jax? Did they kill him? Unlikely, I killed more Imps then he did. Where am I? 

She heard footsteps in the hallway. She drew back against the wall and began breath silently. The steps neared, and she could hear the gentle hum of the maglock coming undone. She balled her hands into fists, ready to attack whoever thought they could get in here. If it were a stormtrooper, she could steal his blaster and break out of the prison. 

Instead of the white monster she expected, the stormtrooper hurled a limp body carelessly into the cell alongside the door. Nelkf identified the form at once and ran to aid the smuggler. 

"Jax! Jax! You're alive!" 

Jax coughed and Nelkf saw some hastily patched scars on his face. Jax looked confused as if he had amnesia. 

"Necho chee!" Nelkf exclaimed in her own language, "What the Sith did they do to you? Are you dying?" there had been enough death in Nelkf's life. She didn't need to face more. 

Jax shook his head gingerly, afraid of any pain a hard shake might cause. He squinted at Nelkf, trying to remember her. The torture had been horrible. 

Nelkf became very frightened. "Jax? What's wrong? They didn't brainwash you, did they? If they did," Her eyes glowed intensely in anger as she imagined how good it would feel when she tore out Rakson's liver and fed it to him. 

Jax seemed to remember her. He sat up and forced a grin. "It's okay," he said, his voice thick with pain. "Not brainwashed, not dying," he coughed, "Just punished. Don't worry." 

"How? How did they punish you? Maybe we could use it to-" 

"No," Jax shook his head a little harder this time. He was making a quick recovery. That was good. "Nothing we could use. Science stuff." 

"But the scars..." 

"Scars?" Jax struggled to remember, "Poison or something. Eats you up from the inside out." 

Nelkf whistled. Man, those Imps had all that stuff down pat! "Jax, can I help?" she asked, "Do you need to get up or something?" 

"No," Jax looked as if he had just faced off with a rancor. "Just sleep. That's all," he glanced at her and shook his head. "You should have run." 

"No way, Smuggler. You got me this far. No way I would ditch you now," she grinned at him, finally accepting their friendship. She turned on her heels and went back to her own side of the room. That's all we are. Friends. 

Jax's eyes caught a mischievous glint. A grin began to spread across his face. "Oh course, Nelkf, I might be cold." 

Nelkf stopped cold in her tracks and turned to glare at him. "You're lucky I'm pretending that's fear talking, or you might wind up floating in a bacta tank." 

Jax laughed. "We're locked up. That doesn't make any sense." 

Nelkf shrugged. "Sklinths seldom do." 


	11. the great escape! :D well sorta. n.n;

**Dark Shadows**  


Crash! Crash! Crash! Nelkf awoke with a start. A clanging noise is not the most subtle of alarm clocks. She glared across the dimly lit cell to see who had so rudely awoke her, though she already knew. When she saw Jax was up, she was less then pleased. "Damn you, Jax!" she jumped up and shot him a dirty glare. "You could have just come over and tapped me on the shoulder!" 

Jax beamed obnoxiously and lowered the two prison food trays he had been slamming together. "I'll try to remember that next time. Sleep well?""Well, right up until the morning fanfare it was wonderful. You're feeling better too, I see." 

"Yeah, I'm still a little dizzy though. You can bet that I won't let the Imps know. They won't use that poison again if they think there aren't any side effects." 

"Other then you're acting like a complete moron." 

"That's normal for me," Jax slammed the trays together again, the crash echoing and reechoing in the cell. 

Nelkf had had it with the trays. She snatched one out of his hands and brought it down gently but forcefully on his head. "Why are you doing that?" She demanded. 

Jax rubbed his head despite the fact that it was not necessary. "Ow, careful. I told you, I'm still dizzy!" 

"Well, now the Imps won't notice if you act it. You still haven't told me why you're smashing those trays together." 

"Breakfast." Jax grinned obnoxiously. 

"Breakfast? You woke me up for breakfast? Don't you know Sklinths don't eat breakfast? Couldn't you just save it?" 

"Nope." Jax handed her a bowl with some sort of sludgy paste inside. An unappetizing bubble worked its way to the top of the gruel and popped. Nelkf tried to remember if she had ever seen anything more disgusting. Swamp water? No, even that looked tasty compared to this. 

"Jax, how do you know it isn't tainted or something?" 

Jax thought about it. He didn't seem to like the slop anymore then she did, but Humans needed to eat when they woke up. Silly. "Because," he said, "They aren't that subtle, or that smart." 

Nelkf sighed and poked at the ooze with her spoon. "I'd rather eat cherfer toes." 

Jax shook his head. "Come on Nelkf. You can't starve. Anyway, it's got to be better then those-What do you call em? Concentrates?" 

Nelkf looked up. "Concentrates," she said with a half laugh. She stopped abruptly. "Concentrates?" 

Jax shot her a quizzical look. 

"That's it!" Nelkf exclaimed, leaping up. "I've got it! Concentrates!" 

Jax glanced at her in a half-sure way. "Have you lost your so-called Sklinth mind?" 

"Ha! Not by half, Smuggler! Not by half!" she threw the bowl of sludge, and it broke, spattering the wall. Jax decided to ignore it. Over the period of a year, and a lifetime of racing around the Galaxy, he'd met up with aliens with worse manners. 

Nelkf snatched a spoon from the broken bowl and wiped it on her pilot's suit. She had been searched, but she suspected that the Imperials had not yet had time enough to give her one of the dull gray shirts and pants that the other prisoners wore. 

Bending the spoon into a half-moon, Nelkf mumbled to herself. "When I first enrolled in the New Republic, some one locked me out of the store holds where my ship's supplies were as a joke. I had to break in using my life monitor...." 

"And you're going to try to use the same deal to get us out of here, right?" 

Nelkf nodded. "You got it Smuggler." 

Jax sighed and shook his head. "Hey, Sklinth, in case you didn't know, there's a big difference between a spoon and a life monitor." 

"Not much of one," she sniffed 

"Hey, the things are completely different! I'm sorry if on your world, wherever you come from, that a life monitor and a spoon are the same thing, but not here." 

Nelkf glared at him "first of all, I have not been to my home world since I was four, and then, spoons and life monitors were different. Secondly, they are very much alike. They use the same metals, and both can easily be bent like so," she held up the now curved spoon. "And it will help us break out, if I can just remember how..." 

Jax groaned. She had probably used parts of the monitor in her break-in, or maybe tricked up the lock mechanism with the lights on the monitor. With only a curved spoon now, what where the chances it would work? Never the less, he decided to watch. 

Nelkf fiddled with the spoon, all the while muttering softly to herself. "Bloody Sith sucking Imps. If Slek weren't part of some stormie's souped up speeder bike by now, I bet he'd remember! Was the life monitor to the left side, or the right...?" 

There was a high pitched screech as the subtle magnetic discharge was collected in the spoon and forced back into the lock, overloading it. Jax covered his ears and snapped at Nelkf over the din. "What did you do?!" 

Nelkf yelled back, one hand holding the spoon in place. "I made an electro magnetic U-turn..-I think," the lock started to shake under Nelkf's grip. "Uh-oh," she muttered. "I think you better get down Jax..." 

Jax muttered a curse and dove for the floor. Nelkf held the spoon in place only a second longer before hitting the deck herself. An explosion tore through the cell with enough force to deafen a being of more sensitive hearing. Small shards flew from the exploding door and over their heads only to embed themselves in the far wall. Smoldering debris rolled along the floor and came to rest alongside them. 

The Sklinth glanced up, seeing what she had hoped for. "Necho chee ko Noio temana! It worked!" she leapt up and started to pull Jax along with her. "Let's go Smuggler!" 

Jax pulled away from her, more difficult then he expected. Nelkf seemed very frail and delicate. "I'm sorry Nelkf. It's not possible." 

"Sure it is. You just get up, walk through the door, blow up a few stormies-" 

"Nelkf," Jax cut her off in mid sentence, "you don't understand. Its not I'm afraid or that I don't want to leave, it's a matter of not being able to. Mindkill device," he tapped his head, "remember?" 

"Oh," Nelkf thought about that. "Well, I'll help you get out." She would not leave him here. Even if she had to drag him out. 

"What?" 

Nelkf grinned. "As much as I've tried not to, I like you, Smuggler. And I won't leave you here now for no reason. Besides, isn't there a breaking point to the device?" 

"Oh, sure." Jax pointed despairingly skyward. "Once I leave planet, get the idea?" 

"That doesn't matter. We're going to get off this rock in any case. And if you can't think a way out of here, I don't know any other Human who can." She patted his shoulder comfortingly. 

"But you know that security is going to be pretty tight." 

"Sith can take security. As far as I'm concerned, we're already out of here." 

Jax looked at her and smiled back. "Okay. We're gone." 

"I doubt that." Both escapees whirled around. To their horror, they were surrounded by stormtroopers with Rakson at the head. The Imperial smiled in a stomach churning way, arming a tranquilizer gun. 

Nelkf was horrified, confused, and outraged all at once. She marched up into Rakson's face, too angry to think clearly. She ignored the tranquilizer pointed at her entirely. "What the hell is this?!" she demanded "How did you know?! I blew the door clear off the wall! How-" 

Rakson smiled at her, angering her further. "Really my little nerf, did you expect me to construct a prison without security cameras or alarms? You are even stupider then I thought." He shook his head sadly. "I really hoped you would have stayed out of trouble until we had time to brainwash your loyalty to the Rebellion." 

"New Republic," Nelkf snarled. Inside, she was afraid, realizing the danger she had just put them in. With a swift swipe of her wrist, she sent the tranquilizer spiraling upwards, causing it to go off in the process. 

That seemed the cue for attack. Jax knocked into Rakson, pushing him to the ground. 

Only after the damage was done did Nelkf and Jax realize the grave situation they had placed themselves in. The troopers opened fire, filling the room with the noise of blaster bolts and the smell of ozone. Nelkf and Jax somehow managed to avoid the onslaught, leaping and spinning on hunches to avoid getting hit. Some of the stormtroopers were not as fortunate as they were. The majority of the attacking forces were cut down by their own crossfire. The floor soon became littered with the bodies of the more unfortunate and slow. With less fire to worry about, the two escapees could relax marginally. They did not notice Rakson dragging himself to his feet and taking aim with a blaster rifle from a dead trooper. 

The Imperial muttered; "Long live the Empire!" 

By some slim chance Jax saw the movement. He wanted to run and push Nelkf out of the way, but all he could do in time was warn her. "Nelkf! Look out for Rakson!" 

Nelkf knew better then to waste time looking. She dipped down, spinning her tail across the floor like a trip wire. Rakson fell, and the blaster went sailing free. The Imperial lay unmoving, unconscious. 

Jax watched curiously as Nelkf swung her tail again and again, bringing down the rest of the attack force. If they were not knocked unconscious when they hit the floor, Nelkf would use her tail again to club them out. Sure, it doesn't kill them, but it keeps them from interfering. I wonder where she thought that move up. 

Jax spotted a fairly well charged gun in the corner and lunged for it. He turned around and prepared to lose fire on the troops who where quickly surrounding Nelkf. 

"Look out Nel! This could get a little messy!" 

Nelkf clubbed another stormtrooper out while she replied. "If you can stand it, Human, so can I!" 

Jax shrugged and opened fire. Soon there were no more attackers for them to worry about. Nelkf stood, panting in an attempt to catch her breath. Jax still held the blaster, as if daring any of the corpses to move. 

The Sklinth shook her head. "They shouldn't have tried to stop a determined Sklinth," she smiled at Jax, "or an overly confident Human smuggler." 

Jax smiled back, laughing. "Well Nel, shall we leave?" 

"Not just yet. We need to get some of these weapons. And where do you get off calling me 'Nel'?" she scowled at him. 

Jax shrugged. "Would you rather I called you Nerf? It's shorter then 'Nelkf'. Easier to pronounce too." 

"Well, don't do it. In my native language, it isn't at all better then 'Nelkf'. If one of my people heard you calling me that-" 

Jax started to laugh at her. "Your species isn't at all common in the Galaxy, Nel. What are the chances they would hear me and understand me anyway?" 

Nelkf sniffed. 

"Look, Nel, I promise I won't call you 'Nel' in front of members of your own species. You've got my word on that." 

I wonder what that's worth. The promise of a smuggler. Nelkf sighed, and decided she's have to take what she got. "Are you sure you can hold out under the mindkill device?" 

"No, but that's half the fun of a gamble." 

"We can't take that chance!" she snapped "Can you, or can you not?" 

"Nel, we have to take that chance," Jax said, "There's no way of knowing otherwise." 

Nelkf sighed. "Fine, but if you drop down screaming in the middle of our escape, you're staying behind." Nelkf made the threat, but she knew she couldn't keep it. Despite instinctive hates, she was beginning to enjoy Jax's company. If he were in trouble or pain, she knew she would have to help him. She was bound to him by friendship. Perhaps even something more then that. 

She watched as Jax took a vibroblade from a trooper who wouldn't need it anymore. She swished her tail impatiently. "Ready to go now?" 

"If I'm not," Jax replied, "it won't make much of a difference. Well," he smiled and headed for the door, "are we going to just stand around waiting to be captured, or are we breaking out of here? Come on!" 

Nelkf followed him out in fear. 


	12. behold the power of cheesy ninth-grade-s...

**Dark Shadows**  


Jax's head was splitting. The device was sending enough electricity into his mind to theoretically knock him out, but Jax made it a personal hobby of his to prove theories wrong. To him, it seemed like a rancor city was having it's annual sing-along in his head. It was almost the same feeling that a person got entering hyperspace for the first time. Nelkf allowed him to lean on her shoulder. She smiled at him comfortingly. "You okay?" 

"No better then I expected." Jax muttered. 

"Do you think you can make it?" 

"I don't know. At first I thought I could, but this is like vertigo. I can't stand vertigo. I might not-" 

Nelkf kissed him softly on the cheek. Jax seemed to feel better already. "Think you can make it now?" she asked. 

Jax grinned. "Watch me try." 

Nelkf grinned, but then changed it quickly to a frown. "Well, don't be tempting Necho and Noio by telling them to give it everything they've got to stop us. We don't want more trouble." 

"I'm so sorry, but it appears you've got some." 

Nelkf and Jax turned to see Rakson standing in their path, blaster poised. His face was now a maze of scratches and cuts. Blood streaked all along his features, turning him into a nightmare. His hands were no better. His once majestic Imperial Admiral's suit was now tattered and blood stained. 

Nelkf drew her own blaster, but she could not help Jax and fight at the same time. "You," she snarled, "You leave us alone. You're defeated. We've won. Can't you see past the tip of your nose, you conceited Human parasite? Nothing you can do can stop us." 

"That is where you're wrong, my little nerf. I will soon notify the guards, and every stormtrooper in this compound will be on your tails in an instant! All exits have been sealed off save one. I hold the key to that one." he dangled a key-card in front of him. "Besides, once you open that door, if you open that door, all the ships in the bay have been locked to you." 

Nelkf's blaster did not falter. "You just gave us three great reasons to kill you." 

"You won't." Rakson sneered. 

"What makes you so positively sure, flicko bait?" He could be bluffing, but it was better for Nelkf to stay on the safe side of things. 

"You'll need all the firepower you can manage if you plan an escape attempt. Besides," he cocked the blaster towards Jax. "Mister Aarx here will have the electrical charges in the mindkill device increased tenfold if I'm shot. It is so with all the others imprisoned here. It decrees the chance of a rebellious uprising." 

"You mean Justice," the Sklinth snarled. 

Rakson laughed. "What would a killer like yourself know of Justice, Karlian? Or should I say Car-" 

"Shut up!" Nelkf snapped, firing her blaster at the ceiling above Rakson's head. A bit of dust fell down. 

"You would not want to harm innocent beings, would you?" Rakson said with a sickening grin. "That is what will happen if you shoot me." 

Nelkf could care less about innocent beings. It was not her nature to. Not what she had been trained to do. She fired the blaster again. 

It went flying over Rakson's head and hit the ceiling, creating more cracks. The Imperial laughed. "Pitiful shot." 

Nelkf took a glance at the ceiling above Rakson and smiled. "Depends where I was aiming," she said coolly. 

Rakson glanced up, just in time to scream as the ceiling caved in on him. Nelkf could hear the crunch of bones breaking. 

Ducking from under Jax's arm, she retrieved the key card that had slid away when Rakson was crushed. 

Jax just looked at the ruble in confusion. "You really killed him," he finally said. "You risked my life and the lives of everyone else here to kill him." 

Nelkf just looked at him coldly. "That is my job." She shook her head and quickly jumped off that topic. "Besides, he said you would be hurt if he was shot. He wasn't shot. Come on. We're going to need to try slicing the codes on the ships in the hanger." she sighed, recalling just how much the murder and chance of others dying brought back. "Do you know where the dock is, Jax? You've tried to escape before, I assume." 

"Yeah, lots of times," Jax was still glancing behind them, unbelieving that the Sklinth had actually committed a murder and then was able to shrug it off. Who cared if the mynock deserved to die? Nelkf should have felt a little guilty about it. Something was wrong here. "Lots and lots and lots of times, only never with a mindkiller." 

Nelkf narrowed her eyes in thought and let out a sort of purring sound. "Are you sure you know the way?" 

Jax shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so. I'll probably be able to get us to a lift or something." 

Nelkf sighed. Still, half a map was better then none, and without Jax, she'd have less then none. She owed her life to him about ten times over. Okay Jax. Time to save my tail again. 


	13. droids have the best senses of humor. n....

**Dark Shadows**  


Jax and Nelkf hunted through the halls of the Imperial prison. Guided only by Jax's memory, they snuck along as inconspicuously as possible searching for a lift that could take them to the docking bays. 

The duo rounded a bend, only to find themselves face to face with a squad of stormtroopers. With no time to fight, they furiously tried to dodge the blaster bolts whizzing past their heads and run at the same time. 

Jax pulled Nelkf into a small chamber and the door sealed shut. "Where are we now?" Nelkf asked. 

Jax pointed to the controls next to the door. "We're in the lift, Nel. We made it." 

Nelkf looked first at the controls, then at Jax with a laugh. "You're serious? You aren't just teasing?" 

Jax rolled his eyes sarcastically. "No Nel, this is really the cafeteria. Of course I'm serious!" his head was pounding with the effects of the mindkill device. "Would you mind trying to get us to the docking bay? It's on level forty three, I think." 

"Right," Nelkf tapped her fingers over some keys quickly. A "no access" sign flashed up. "Blast," she muttered. "I'm gonna try this again until I get it." Again and again, the "No access" sign flashed mockingly. 

"Bloody Sith!" Nelkf snapped. "Those Imps thought of everything! I wish that stupid droid wasn't part of a coffeine vender by now! He'd figure this out!" 

A shrill twittering filled the chamber. Nelkf scowled at Jax. "Knock it off. I'm not in the mood for jokes." 

Jax raised his hands defensively. "Don't look at me! That's binary, no Human can make that sound." 

"Then who did?" 

Another twitter filled the chamber. Nelkf glanced around her curiously. Finally she cocked her head at the lift computer. "Slek? Slek, is that you?" 

A joyous squeal filled the chamber, now undoubtable as an astromech droid. 

"What is he saying?" Jax asked Nelkf. 

She ignored him and addressed the disembodied droid. "But you're an R2 unit, what are you doing operating a lift?" 

Slek twittered again. 

"What did he say?" Jax demanded. 

Nelkf sighed at Jax's impatience. "He said 'search me, idiotic Imperial reasons.' Okay? I'm trying to get him to help us out here." 

Jax shrugged. "Sorry, I just thought I had a right to know." He called out to the droid. "Look, Slek, I love a joyful reunion and all, but maybe you can get us to the docking bay now?" 

Slek blatted something rude through the speakers. 

Nelkf translated this time unbidden. "He said to 'keep your pants on you little short haired funny thing man you. You have no patience!'." she laughed. 

Jax frowned. "Hey, Slek, this is no time for jokes. We're breaking out." 

"Could you take us there now?" Nelkf finished. 

Slek did not reply. 

"Slek?" 

A long mechanical sigh filled the chamber. Nelkf placed her hands on her hips. "Good. Then get going." 

A few minutes later, the doors of the lift slid open to reveal a control room of sorts. A few officers noticed the passengers and began to run to catch them. Nelkf screamed angrily at the droid. 

"SLEK!!!" 

As if in response, the doors clanged shut again and the lift started up. The cabin filled with the sound of crude mechanical laughter. Nelkf glared at the computer with disgust. "That's not funny Slek. Not funny at all." 

Jax too, was not amused. "We could have gotten caught! Or worse!" 

Slek continued to laugh at them. 

Nelkf shook a warning finger at the walls. "We're in a hurry, Slek. You take us to the hanger now, or I'll personally cross your circuits so many times that you'll think you're a toaster oven!" 

Slek was either intimidated or he wasn't. Either way, he shut up and began to send the lift someplace useful. 

Once again, the doors slid open and Nelkf and Jax found themselves in a place that was anywhere but the hanger. To Nelkf, it looked like another control room, only this one was empty. The Sklinth pounded the wall in despair. "What the Sith is this? Slek, when I get my hands on you..." 

Slek's voice whined pitifully. But you need to be here! You want to take the locks off the ships, don't you? 

Nelkf glanced around. "What's the deal?" 

Jax looked out of the lift cautiously. "Nel, this isn't-" 

"I know!" she snapped. "But Slek says there's something here we need." 

"What?" 

Nelkf listened to Slek's pipings and glanced around until her eyes caught something. "That can't be what I think it is, can it?" she had thought that those things were illegal! 

"Nel, that's an all-purpose disrupter. It can knock out anything.." 

"No way," Nelkf murmured. She picked up the cylindrical shaped object and turned it over in her hand. "Slek old boy, when I get out of here, I'll have someone come back for you pal." 

Thank you, Slek hummed. Now hurry! Use the access card on the lift! 

"Of course!" Nelkf had to laugh at herself. "How could I forget?" 

"Nel!" Jax snapped "If you're quite through now?" 


	14. flying junk ships rules. n.n

**Dark Shadows**  


This time when Nelkf and Jax stepped out of the chamber, they could see the machine had done its work. Nelkf breathed a sigh of relief and glanced at the dozens of ships awaiting them. "We did it," she told Jax "We're outta here." 

Jax hardly seemed to notice. He was busy searching through the ships. He ran into the hanger with renewed strength, coming to a halt next to a miss-matched freighter. He smiled in relief. "She's here, Nel." 

Nelkf spun around. Who was Jax talking about? "She?" 

Jax rested a hand gingerly on the hull of the strange looking freighter. "My old ship. The Galaxy Casino. She's not as fast as some of the ships out there, but she never fails in a scrape. There hasn't been a scanning device yet that could make heads or tails out of her." 

"I don't know that I can either," Nelkf muttered. She could see bits of snub fighters, transports and various freighters. There was even the dorsal stabilizer of an Imperial shuttle. A flying nightmare. A patchwork ship. She shook her head. "Jax, there are plenty of other ships we could use. Do we have to fly that monstrosity?" 

Jax gave Nelkf a stubborn nod. "Yes, we do. I'm not leaving my ship. I built her. Sure, she looks like the result of a freak accident, but considering I spent the better part of two years working on her, she's really something." 

Nelkf sighed and poised the disrupter at the Casino. A small hum ensured, and the lock turned green. Jax quickly ran inside, and Nelkf followed. "Does it still work?" 

Jax glanced up from his position over the controls and grinned. "She should. Luck's been with us so far. If not, we won't be around long to mope about it," his smile faded. "But you'll have to take the controls until we're safely out of here. I can't fly with a mindkiller." 

Nelkf nodded. "Right. Maybe you should stay in the main compartment." 

Jax glanced back. "Maybe I should. I think I'm getting ready to black out here." 

"then what are you standing here for?" Nelkf gave him a shove. "Go! I'm not a rookie. I can fly a freighter. Sheesh." 

When Jax had disappeared, Nelkf found herself at a loss for Jax's controls. "Blast you, Jax! Where the bloody Sith is the starter?" she had to pause and clear her head, something she was not used to doing. Okay Nelkf. Think here. If you were Jax, where would you put the starter? Nelkf got up and walked back to the ramp. It had already shut, but sure as day, there was the starter, right next to the hatch. Nelkf slammed her fist down on the button and ran back to the cockpit. The Casino hummed to life under her. She breathed a sigh of relief. Luck must still be with us. Suddenly, Nelkf heard the sound of blaster bolts pinging off metal. Oh no! 

The Sklinth ran to glance out of one of the multiple windows lining the ship. She barely had time for a glimpse before a well-aimed blaster bolt spattered against the window. Oh no! No,no,no! They found us! It took Nelkf only an instant before she was back in the cockpit. Leaping into the pilot's seat, she thought, Okay luck. Stick by me. I'm going to need it. Switches flipped and lights buzzed as the frantic Sklinth attempted to fly the ship. 

She was thrown back into her seat as the Casino rocketed from the bay and out into the wilds of Lekan. Struggling to regain control of the run-away ship, Nelkf pulled back on one of the many levers. The ship narrowly avoided colliding with a mountain and swung up. Faster, faster, Nelkf thought, If we don't get up enough speed, we won't make it out of atmosphere! 

Luck remained on the escapees' side for the time being. The Galaxy Casino quickly left the hostile world of Lekan behind in exchange for the peace and solitude of the stars. 

That peace did not last long. Almost immediately, a squadron of TIE fighters appeared from the planet's shadow to intercept the Casino. Man oh man! Jax, you better have given this ship one helluva shielding system if we're ever gonna live through this. 

Nelkf tugged violently on the controls, sending the Casino into a wild, disoriented spin. The TIEs, momentarily confused, began to break formation and surround the ship. Let's see them surround this! 

Nelkf threw all her strength into the drive. The ship continued to shake while the TIEs fired missing shots behind her. The Sklinth squinted ahead through the oddly shaped glass as if to judge timing. With an angry snarl, she pulled the ship out of it's mad spin and tore away from the oncoming TIEs. 

Ironically, Nelkf found herself wondering why protocol droids were even invented when she heard Jax yelling at her from the main hold. She slammed her fist down on the cockpit door controls, locking herself in and Jax out. Oh yeah, I forgot. Some folks like Jax don't know any protocol. As much as Nelkf wanted Jax up here in the cockpit with her, to waste even one second in the switch meant risking a head on collision. 

She continued to pilot the freighter through the increasing amounts of TIE fighters, ignoring the pounding noises and curses coming from the other side of the door. Sorry Jax. An escape is a lousy time for conversations. It looks to me as if that's how the cards fell. Swerving and ducking, she continued to fly the Casino farther and farther away from Lekan at sub-light speed. Maybe this flying junk heap can hold out longer then those TIEs can. With any luck, I'll figure out a way to make it to hyperspace. Normally Nelkf hated jumping in and out of hyperspace, but at this point the solid white blur would be a welcome sight to her. 

Nelkf knew that the chances of her figuring out which switch took her to hyperspace were next to none. She pounded her fists on the controls in despair. "Oh, for the love of Chaos!" 

A streak of laser fire burst forth from the seemingly dormant hull of the freighter and exploded against an oncoming TIE. The TIE's left ion engine blew, taking the solar panel with it. The small one-man ship flung into an insane spin. He must be nauseous by now. I think I may be starting to like this piece of space junk. The TIE pilot did not have much time to suffer in his barrel roll, for the bubble like cockpit soon erupted in a burst of flames. Nelkf rubbed her hands together devilishly and swung the ship around. "Okay Imps. You want to play? How about a game of cat and mouse?" 

"Nelkf! No!" Jax had finally succeeded in hot-wiring the lock and snatched Nelkf's hand away from the firing button. 

"Let go!" she snarled, "This is a dogfight! Can't you see?" 

"Nelkf, give me the controls. We need to get into hyperspace. You can blow Imps up some other time." 

"There might not be 'some other time.' Now get lost!" 

Jax pulled out a vibroblade and held it like a club. "Sorry Nel, but like you said before, we haven't got time for this." Jax struck, and Nelkf fell unconscious to the floor of the cockpit. Jax hurriedly tapped keys and set the navicomputer. "Remind me to thank you when you wake up for helping me out back there." Jax glanced at the readout, and pulled the lever that sent the ship into hyperspace. Jax smiled. "So long Lekan. Next stop, Mos Eisley spaceport." 


	15. wAHHH A TICK IS CRAWLING ON ME AS I WRIT...

**Dark Shadows**  


The first thing Nelkf noticed when she awoke was that she was tied down. For a split second, she feared that the entire escape had only been an elaborately crafted dream. Then she remembered that in dreams you don't get hit on the head quite so hard. As the pain subsided she recalled she had been controlling the ship like a maniac and Jax had had to club her out. She turned the idea over in her mind of letting Jax find out what was inside a black hole. It seemed to hold a certain amount of appeal, but she dismissed the thought. If I send him floating away, I wouldn't be a very grateful friend, would I? 

She squirmed vainly against the ropes and stared at the entrance to the cockpit. They were in hyperspace, she could tell, but where they were going was a mystery to her. She would have preferred being able to sneak up on Jax and scare him for tying her up, but given her current position, she would settle for his coming down to untie her. It soon became apparent that Jax was not going to notice her on his own. Funny, Klway always said the amount of noise I make when I wake up could cause a sarlacc to pick up and move. Maybe that doesn't apply to coming conscious. "Jax!" she called, "hey, Jax!" Nelkf was beginning to get fed up. "Yo, bantha brains! Over here!" 

Jax came and stood in the doorjamb. He smiled and shook his head at her. "Temper, temper. It's nice to see you, Nel." 

By this time, the Sklinth was plotting just which internal organ to rip apart first. "Forget the happy talk! Sith take it! Get over here and untie me!" 

Jax clicked his tongue at her. "Is that any way to treat the captain? I think you should thank me." 

"THANK you?! I'm going to kill you! Let me loose!" 

Jax muttered something in a language Nelkf barely understood. 

"Don't play games with me Jax. Just because you can annoy me in some other language doesn't make me feel any better! I had to fly the ship, I couldn't come back to check on you! Besides, you weren't tied up!" 

"But you're tied up for your own safety." Jax walked over and began to undo the knots binding Nelkf. 

"Safety?! Safety from what?" She rubbed her sore wrists. Perhaps she wouldn't kill Jax after all. 

Jax gave her a sly wink. "Wouldn't you like to know?" 

Nelkf shook her head doubtfully. "Hyperspace, right? Jax, I appreciate a man who worries for a girl's safety, but tying me up?" 

Jax grinned. "Consider it payback for locking me out of the cockpit. Besides," he pointed to the blaster hanging from her belt. "Not too many girls who carry blasters around with them need protection. Actually," He laughed. "It was so you wouldn't jump me and take control of the ship again." 

"You crazy smuggler! How did you figure that?" 

Jax shrugged. "Lucky guess." A light buzzed and Jax glanced behind him. "Whoops. Looks like we're coming up on Tatooine." 

"Tatooine?" 

"Yeah," Jax said, walking into the cockpit and brought them out of hyperspace. "Hey, Nel, you might want to see this." 

The Sklinth came and stood beside him in the cockpit, struck dumb by the brilliant yellow glare of the desert world bellow. Something form deep inside her, some long suppressed instinct warned her away from the dry, deadly world preparing to swallow them. "I have a bad feeling about this, Jax." 

"Bad feeling?" Jax laughed. "This is my home world. Why would you have a bad feeling about it?" 

"Your home world? That explains it." It was simple for Nelkf to shrug off such fears, but deep inside, she knew there was danger here. Real danger. Nelkf tapped her finger on the controls in annoyance. "Well, if you lived on a moisture farm, I'll scream." 

"Naw, my family owned a mechanic shop on the outskirts of Mos Eisley." 

"Good," Nelkf said, "Because I'm sick of all these pilots coming out of Tatooine who grew up on moisture farms." 

"Uh-huh." Jax said, only half listening. They had entered the atmosphere and were heading for what looked like a tiny smudge on the yellow sandy surface. Nelkf noticed it instantly. "What's that?" she asked. 

Jax flipped a few switches and the ship began to descend on the smudge. "Mos Eisley." 

Nelkf bit her lip for a moment. "We aren't going there, are we?" 

Jax replied only by opening a link to the spaceport. "Mos Eisley spaceport, this is the Galaxy Casino requesting permission to land." 

"Fmen pevion neonf," A nasally voice buzzed. 

Jax rolled his eyes. "Same to you. Look, just give me a docking bay." 

"Prevev," the voice hissed, "neen, pictona." 

"Thank you!" Jax exclaimed, shutting down the link. He turned to Nelkf. "We need to refuel, and there's a friend of mine who'll help us out here." under his breath he muttered; "If he's any better then he was last time I met up with him anyway." 

The Galaxy Casino set down noiselessly in the dirty docking bay in the heart of Mos Eisley. 

"Okay Aarx," Nelkf said, purposely using his real name. "Let's get going then." 

A scowl crossed the smuggler's face. "Don't call me that! I hate it when people call me that!" 

Nelkf grinned defiantly. "And I hate it when people call me 'Nel'." 

"Yeah, but it's not as humiliating as 'Aarx'!" 

Nelkf narrowed her eyes. "Learn to speak Sklinthi." 

"Can't you just get used to it? I mean, it gets a little annoying to call you Nelkf all the time." 

"Oh, I guess so. Alight, I won't call you Aarx, and you don't call me Nel in front of my people. I owe a favor to you at least. You probably saved both our lives in that dogfight." 

"Good. Now watch yourself around here. I know you could crack the spine of anyone who gets in your way, but Mos Eisley has a reputation for being the armpit of the Galaxy." 

Nelkf rolled her eyes. "Well, we could be stuck in somewhere that has reputation for being lower on the anatomy," she laughed. "Don't worry Jax. I have my blaster off safety and I still have three grenades, the disrupter and a vibroblade if I'm in a jam." 

Nelkf threw the disrupter into small leather bag and pulled off her flight suit to reveal a dark gray jumpsuit underneath. She threw the bag over her shoulder and smiled at Jax. "From what I hear, in Mos Eisley, you don't broadcast whose side you're on." 

Jax nodded. "You're telling me. Shall we leave?" 

Nelkf made a mock bow. "Most certainly." 

They left the ship, and Nelkf noticed a tall, black-haired female Rodian watching her curiously. Nelkf had a strange feeling of deja vu, but ignored it. Instead, she kept her eyes peeled for familiar faces. If she could find someone she knew, she could get off this rock all the easier. 

With a start, she realized Jax had disappeared into the crowded streets. She thought she saw him a few meters away and started to walk calmly after him. She couldn't run. Drawing attention to herself was the last thing she wanted to do. People always tell you to walk "quickly and with a purpose." That makes no sense. It's like telling criminals you're afraid. Nelkf shook her head. She was twenty-five and she still couldn't figure out some people. 


	16. yatta yatta! XD 'tina time!!

**Dark Shadows**  


Jax rounded a bend and slipped into an alleyway. This time, he had been lucky. No one seemed to be occupying this one at the time. Waiting for Nelkf to catch up to him on the streets was dangerous. Besides, Jax knew of a shortcut that ran this way. 

He watched some Jawas ride by on a huge reptilian creature. Hopefully Cail still hangs out around Chulman's cantina. Hopefully he doesn't do anything but hang out. If Cail was not at the cantina, Jax had never known an inhabitant of Mos Eisley whose tongue a few credits wouldn't loosen. He tightened up against the wall and continued to look for Nelkf. A simple whisper to catch her attention was too risky. In Mos Eisley, if you wanted to live, you never let anyone think you had something to hide. 

Nelkf had lost sight of Jax. This might not have been so bad, had the smuggler told her where they were going. Leaping out of the way of two wolf creatures, she lost her grip on the leather bag. The sack with the disrupter in it fell. 

A tiny, gloved hand caught it before it reached the ground. Nelkf barely had time to glance up before the Jawa disappeared into the crowds. 

"Hey!" Nelkf broke into a dash after it. "Hey you slimy little Sith sucker! Give that back!" 

Despite his size, the Jawa was extremely swift. He entered a clear spot in the crowds and glanced behind him. All he could do was give a shriek of despair as the enraged Sklinth bore down on him with her vibroblade drawn. 

Nelkf pinned him against the ground and held the vibroblade above her head, ready to strike. "Got any last words, rancor bait?" she snarled. Nelkf suddenly realized just how stupid this question was. Several data tapes referred to the Jawa's language as "unintelligible." Unless the little thief wished himself to be understood, Nelkf would hear very little out of him. Well, last words or no last words, this guy's gonna have one less hand and a lot less blood to steal with. 

Her knife struck down and slit off the Jawa's hand. The creature howled in pain and squeezed his wrist, attempting to numb the despised hurt. The small alien seemed to shrink at the blow. 

The commotion drew a small crowd of onlookers, most of them placing bets on the outcome of the brawl. Some of them laughed and cheered the Sklinth on as she drove the knife into the Jawa again and again. Unfortunately, unlike the world where Nelkf grew up, enemies were on the watch for a vicious Sklinth and a Human male. 

Their day had been long, tedious and boring. They had only just received orders from Lekan to be on the watch for escaped prisoners, and it had shocked them into action. The crowd presented an opportunity for them to prepare for whatever might happen, and who knows? Perhaps they'd find the escaped prisoner there. They began to push their way through the crowd to find the troublemaker behind it. 

Nelkf looked up. Something was wrong here, she could tell. The crowd had begun to thin to one side, allowing for someone to come through. Nelkf still had the vibroknife in her hand, and had not even noticed the Jawa was well past dead. She scrambled to her feet and snatched up the disrupter. Suddenly, a thug burst through the crowd. He moved like an enforcer, acted like a stormtrooper, but did not look like one. 

The thug glanced around. Seeing the dead Jawa, and Nelkf holding a bloody vibroblade, he barked at her; "You! Hey, you! Stop!" 

Nelkf had no intentions of standing still and allowing herself to be captured. Shoving the vibroblade into her pocket, she turned tail and ran through the crowds. Stupid, stupid, stupid! She thought angrily at herself. Chaos take it, when will you learn to control your temper? 

A blaster bolt sailed past her face, and she dodged away just in time. That was an aiming shot. If she had not dodged, the next one could have taken her head off. Ahead, she could see a Bothan -or something close to a Bothan- getting off a speeder bike. The thugs continued to order her to cease. Yeah, right, like I'm going to stop for them. Nelkf ran faster. If she could jump on the speeder, she could leave these goons in the dust, and leave planet without a second thought. If they went after Jax, well, better him then her. She couldn't watch his back every two milliseconds. The speeder was five or six meters away. It would be a chancy maneuver, even for a Sklinth. Well, she was going to try. The Sklinth pushed her muscles to their extreme and ran... 

Jax was so surprised to see Nelkf run past that he almost missed her. He reached out one hand and caught her shoulder, dragging her into the dark alleyway. He cupped his other hand over her mouth to avoid the inevitable scream. "Calm down Nel. It's only me." 

Nelkf tore his hand away from her mouth. "Jax? You idiot! What do you doing?" 

Jax covered her mouth again. He didn't feel like being snapped at right now. "I could ask you the same question," he said. "Why were you running like a dewback with it's tail on fire?" 

A blaster bolt slammed into the wall next to them. A second later, a thug rounded the bend and saw them. Calling loudly to his comrades, he began to give chase. Jax grabbed Nelkf's wrist and began to drag her along the back alleyways. "Never mind," he muttered. 

They turned corners, dodged other beings and leapt over obstacles as they attempted to lose the persistent troops. Nelkf fought to free her wrist as Jax leapt over a barrel and she was forced to do the same or fall. 

"Where are we going?" she growled. 

Jax tugged her around another bend in the labyrinth of alleys. "Actually, I lost track about three turns back." 

The Sklinth growled deeply, a sound she had yet to see any Human produce. "Where were we going?" 

Jax didn't answer. Instead, he pulled her around another bend, leading them out onto the main street. Jax glanced at the signs lining the roadsides, and tugged Nelkf through a crowd into one of them. Nelkf had never been good at reading Basic, but she was able to make out the sign just barely operational in the intense Tatooine day. C-H-U-L-M-A-N-'S C-A-N-T-I-N-A. Cantina. That was not a good word in Nelkf's vocabulary. 


	17. why you dont #*%@ off the PMSing alien a...

**Dark Shadows**  


Nelkf accidentally bumped someone in the doorway. The woman, clad in black with black hair and green eyes that looked like those of a demon spun around and caught Nelkf by the collar, strangling her. 

The Sklinth blinked in surprise as the woman glared at -no, through. Definitely right through her, like she was looking into her soul.- and tightened her grip on Nelkf's throat. 

The woman held a red-haired boy against her one hip, and Nelkf thought she recognized the boy from some place. The chief of state's son? Anakin, perhaps? No, Anakin had brown hair, and while Sklinths had slow memories, Nelkf was never one to forget that sort of thing. 

The woman glared darkly at her. Any other relatively humanoid species would have fainted from blood loss by now, but Sklinths could hold their breaths for about ten minutes, if necessary. Nelkf herself had only been able to hold it for six, though. "Uh, sorry," Nelkf managed to work out. It was very hard to speak with no air. 

The woman released her, and Nelkf fell backwards on the floor, the sudden return of blood dizzying her. A large cat creature that seemed to reflect the strange woman in every aspect, turned to glare at the Sklinth, then followed the woman out. 

Nelkf watched them go, totally bewildered at what had caused the woman to be so short tempered with her. Then again, Karlian, would you give it a second thought if the positions were reversed? I think not. 

Standing up, she glanced over at Jax who was slowly shaking his head at her. "Are you sure we're safer in here?" she asked. 

Jax laughed. "Safe? You kidding?" Quietly, he whispered to her; "Just keep you blaster handy at all times." 

Suddenly annoyed at the thought that perhaps -just perhaps- a Human thought they knew better then her, she growled. Glaring at him as the strange woman had done to her, she said; "You watch your back, and I'll watch mine, Smuggler." 

The two beings edged their way through the crowd, attempting not to draw attention. They may as well have tried to leap over Beggar's Canyon. Dozens of eyes watched them. Some too dazed to care, some wondering if they were undercover enforcers, some wondering if it would be worth it or not to pick their pockets, some simply observing, confident that later they would be able to sell this information. 

A band of Biths played jizz in the corner. Nelkf had never particularly liked jizz, it hit notes that thrummed in her ears and made her feel sick. She didn't really like Biths, either. They thought they were so great, with their big brains and junk. Yeah, yeah. Go on and brag boys. You wouldn't last two minutes in a free-for-all. 

Jax lead her to a table where they sat. Unfortunately, it was not far enough away from the Biths for Nelkf's liking. Perhaps Jax liked jizz. It just went to show how stupid Humans were. At least it was a dark table. Sklinths were semi-nocturnal, and bright light of any kind, such as suns, made them angry and short tempered. Needless to say, Nelkf was not a pleasant being to be around on a bisolar world. 

She glanced around at the other beings here. Some of them looked drunk, Nelkf did not know if she was right or not. Sklinths never took drugs of any kind. It went against their beliefs and biology. Since the Sklinthi body ran on less nourishment then a Human's, it used every mineral it could find in what it was given. The tiniest trace of a drug could produce disastrous effects. Should a Sklinth even try coffeine, they would suffer from insomnia for weeks before finally recovering. Nelkf herself knew this from a personal experience and mistake. Even medical drugs such as antibiotics could be fatal. To even give a Sklinth a minuscule amount of any drug was to give them an over-dosage. Not that Sklinths minded this. It was considered weak to show that they should need the help of non-biological products in their immune systems to survive. 

Nelkf growled in annoyance and asked Jax; "Why are we even here?" 

"We're waiting for a friend of mine who can maybe help us out. We'd have to help him in return though." 

"This is fair," Nelkf said calmly. "And what if he doesn't come here?" 

"Oh, he will," Jax said. "If I know him, he will." 

"I wish he didn't come here." 

Jax half-laughed. "So do I, Nel. Believe me." 

Nelkf tried to figure out what he meant by that, and started into the long, thrumming purr her species made when they thought. Unfortunately, she couldn't make heads or tails of it. She cursed the fact that the Sklinthi memory was so slow and slippery. It took a Sklinth four times as long as a Human to remember something. Nelkf was not stupid, just not very good at remembering things. The only way she could was to force the knowledge into her instinctive thought pattern. That was how she had learned to speak Basic, but her ability to read it and write it did need refining. Too bad, it would make her life a whole hell of a lot easier. 

Suddenly, she felt something was amiss. Glancing down, she saw that the sack containing the disrupter was gone. She started to look around for it. She couldn't have dropped it, could she? 

Jax apparently noticed that she was looking for something. He watched her for a few minutes, then unable to tell for himself asked; "Hey Nel, what's wrong?" 

"The disrupter!" she hissed. "It's missing!" 

"Well, where did it go? It can't exactly walk!" 

"Unless someone is carrying it," Nelkf pointed out. 

Looking behind her, Jax's eyes went wide as he said; "Uh-oh." 

"I don't like 'uh-oh's. What is it?" Nelkf turned to look behind her, and immediately regretted doing so. 

A big Human, probably a goon for hire, towered over her. Behind him were several other dangerous looking Humans, each snickering as they saw they had captured Nelkf's attention. No non-Humans. Nelkf thought. A Xeno-hater. Exactly what I don't need. It's a pretty safe bet he can't tell I'm a Sklinth yet, or he would've picked a fight by now. The big man laughed at Nelkf and sneered. In his hand was the sack. "What's inside, Pretty?" he asked. 

Any being with one grain of sense would have know to ignore the goon and let him leave, but Nelkf had never considered herself to have more then an eighth of a grain of common sense, and the goon's addressing her so casually made that get blown away in the wind. Snarling like a stol, she began to climb slowly to her feet, glaring at the man. Jax noticed the trouble in the wind and began to get up too, making sure his blaster was set to "kill". 

"Hey, watch it nerf lover," he told the goon. "You do not want to make her mad." 

The big Human ignored him and laughed in Nelkf's face again. "What's in the bag, Pretty? Something I want?" 

Nelkf reached out and caught the swinging bag with one hand, holding tight and glaring at the Human. "A gun," she growled, emphasizing her accent. "And if you don't give it back, you'll find it pressed against your thick skull." 

The man laughed again. Nelkf was getting tired of being laughed at by those who underestimated her. "Looks like I've got the better end of the deal here," he motioned to his many lackeys. "I don't know that you'd like to start a fight." 

The Sklinth purred, thinking the option through. She had fighting imprinted in her instincts, and it did not sound so bad to her to get into a little brawl. "I don't know about that." she said softly. 

Swinging her tail, she caught the Human off guard. He fell down, and before he could reach for either gun or knife, Nelkf kicked him in the face, drawing his attention. The big Human turned to look at her in fearful amazement. 

Jax, meanwhile, was keeping one eye on the other goons. Apparently, without their leader, they were kits. Jax shook his head in sad disgust. 

Nelkf glared down at the lead goon, smiling evilly. "Rule two of dealing with Nelkf Karlian; If I don't like you, you get hurt." She slowly drew her blaster and pointed it at the goon. "And I don't think I really like you." 

The bartender, who had been watching the developing situation carefully, called out. "Hey!" he barked. "No blasters! Not in here! Blow each-other's heads off outside!" 

Nelkf muttered a curse and pocketed the blaster. Turning back to the goon, she said; "Rule number three; no one gets away scott-free." With alarming force, she brought her heel down on a place that to most species' males, including Humans, would be extremely painful. Nelkf gingerly picked up the sack and began to sit down at their table. "Now, go away. I'm not in a good mood, and we're waiting for someone." 

The big goon managed to drag himself to his feet. "Xeno scum!" he snarled. 

The Sklinth turned slowly around, ever muscle in her body taut with hatred and anxiety. "What did you say?" she snarled, sounding more animal by the minute. 


	18. enter the glitbiter! WOOOO! ^_^ Bi-sho-n...

**Dark Shadows**  


"The last thing we need here is more of you damn Xeno-freaks!" the man continued to say, oblivious that Nelkf's eyes and tone were telling him to quiet or be killed. 

"So why pick on me?" Nelkf snarled back. "Why not talk to some of them?" she waved at the other aliens sitting around the cantina. "Or are they too tough looking? To well armed? You can't tell if they're male or female, is that it, jerk off? I'm the only alien here who you can pick on and feel secure that you'll walk away unharmed, huh, wuss boy?" The Sklinth began to draw her vibroknife. "You thought wrong, flicko bait." 

The goon now seemed to be sure that he was in no danger. Nelkf couldn't understand why until he drew his own knife. Waving a hand, he ordered the other goons to draw blades as well. The big Human glared at her, no longer wishing just to ruin her day. "See, Xeno, there are two ways to argue. You can talk, or fight," He began to signal something to his followers. "We prefer fighting." 

Jax stepped forward, angering their attackers. "How about that, mynock licker? So do we. Care to debate the Xenological matter?" 

It was now clear that that was what they would have to do. Nelkf muttered a thanks to Jax under her breath. 

"Don't mention it." he replied. "I owe you one." 

"If we live through this, consider it even." 

The first goon to launch the attack flew at Nelkf, vibroblade flashing despite the dim light. Nelkf swung her tail and caught him in mid flight. The goon was set off balance by the blow, and went sprawling. Jax's knife stopped that flight, sending the man sailing into a sabacc table, a huge gash running the length of his face and into his one eye. Jax waved the blade from side to side, taunting the goons. "Next?" 

The main attack came at them in a wave. Nelkf jumped away from the falling blades and slashed with her knife. Jax took the force used in the attack to throw the goons, using their size and strength against them. The enemy fell back and regrouped, preparing for another charge. 

"More of them then there are of us," Nelkf observed. "Not so fair." 

"If I were a Corellian, I wouldn't give a Ranat's rectum about it." 

"A Jedi could take care of this in a second." 

"Have you met any Jedi in the past minute I don't know about?" 

"No, sorry." 

"Me neither." Jax sighed. "How long do you think we'll last here?" 

"Not very." Another goon came at Nelkf. This time when she swung her tail at him, he slashed at it with a vibroblade, cutting deeply. Nelkf let out a cry and fell back. She did so next to Jax, rather then behind him. To have him cover her back was not only dangerous to him, but also somewhat humiliating to her. She shook her head and said softly; "That's it. We're dead Jax." 

"Glad to know," he muttered. "What I wouldn't give for an extra card in the game at this point." 

The big goon sneered. "But'cha ain't got one, and I think the Xeno'll be the first of ya' ta go. Slow and painful." 

The big Human lunged at Nelkf with his knife ready to cut open her throat. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't have stood a chance. 

But these were not normal circumstances. The fight had brought all her killer's instincts back online, and they were now working in defense mode full tilt. As the knife came at her, she held up her wrist to block. The knife cut across the back of her hand, leaving an evil gash. It cut into the major nerve systems there, and Nelkf felt the tingling sensation of blood leaving her finger tips and their slowly dying. 

The big goon fell back again, furious at the failure of his attack. "The hell with slow and painful!" he snarled. "At this bloody point, I'll settle for a simple scream!" 

As if in reply, there was the sound of a blaster shot, followed by a scream that could barely be classified as Human. Everyone's attention turned to the sound to see what it was. Nelkf's first fear was that the thugs on the street had tracked them down, but that was canceled over when a slim, lanky figure stepped into view. 

"'Scuse me," the newcomer said, looking down a t the corpse. "You were in my way." 

"Keep outta this, Kid!" snarled the goon. "This is between us and the Xeno." 

The newcomer, who could barely be older then nineteen, had longish blonde hair that looked as if the wind held a grudge against it, and icy blue eyes. Oddly, there was a spot -perhaps a tattoo- on his left eye, much as a dog would have a patch-mark on its fur. The boy was about average height and fairly slim with an old, sand-worn jacket on. He shook his head. "Nothing's private business here, I think. 'Sides," he cocked his head towards Jax and Nelkf. "I know him, and I think that he wasn't planning on being here just so you could badger his friend there." 

Nelkf looked at the newcomer, then at Jax, then back to the young Human who seemed to be spinning the goon's head with a lot of questions worth bantha dung, but confusing none the less. "Who's that lunatic?" she asked Jax. There was more then a hint of annoyance in her voice. 

"That's Cail," he told her. "And if he doesn't watch his back, he'll be dewback kibble before you or I can blink." 

Nelkf shook her head and growled angrily. "Looks like you got the extra card you were wishing for," she muttered. "To bad it made you lose the whole sabacc game." 

Jax looked doubtful. "Nah, not with Cail. You never can tell with him. One minute he isn't much of a help except for buggin' the hell outta you, the next he's saving your little Sklinth tail." 

Sklinthi, Nelkf thought to herself. She'd have to teach Jax the basis for her language when she had the chance. If she'd live to have the chance. 

Cail was saying to the goon; "Now if you'll just stick your head up a rancor's hole, I'll be-" 

That angered the goon. He reached out a huge fist to and grabbed the cocky boy's jacket collar. Cail was turned forcefully around to stare the goon in the face. "Uh," he said with a still cocky grin, "This is a bad thing, isn't it?" 

The goon held his vibroblade under Cail's throat. "I warned ya' to keep yer damn nose outta my business. Now you're not even gonna have a nose." 

Cail saw the blade rise above his head and ducked, pulling himself free of the goon's iron grip. Rolling away, he jumped up next to Nelkf and shook his head at Jax. "And you tell me to keep outta trouble." He glanced at Nelkf and waved, despite the fact that they were standing not even a meter apart. "Hi. I guess I'll get to know you later." he pulled a blaster from his coat and leveled it at the goon's throat. 

Jax saw Cail's finger tighten on the trigger. Not now! They didn't need any more attention called to them! "Hey, no!" swinging up with his fist, he tried to knock the blaster from Cail's hand. 

Then things began to happen very fast. Nelkf ducked, the blaster went off, Cail tripped over Nelkf's tail, and almost everyone gave out a yelp. 

When everyone had time enough to look, things had changed quite a bit. The goons were gone, all except the lead one. He lay on his back, a smoldering hole in his forehead. Cail cringed. "That's gotta hurt," he muttered. 

Jax glared at him angrily. "What's the big idea?" he growled. "We didn't need any attention called to ourselves! You could have stalled them until we thought of something!" 

"At the rate you were going, you two were more likely to just stand there and watch until somebody's throat got slit," Cail muttered. 

"Will you both shut up so we can get out of here?" Nelkf snapped. If those goons had any brains at all, they would report her, Jax and Cail. She would have to be as stupid as, well, a Human to stick around here! While Sklinths sometimes did not act so terribly intelligent, they weren't stupid. 

Jax glanced over at her. "Nel, we can't leave just yet." Leaving now, right after a fight, would make them seem rather conspicuous. 

"Why?" she growled. "I think we can leave. Why do you two want to hang around here? It's the first place they'll look for us!" 

"Who's 'they'?" Jax asked her skeptically. 

"Yeah," Cail looked confused, "who are 'they,' xeni-o?" 

Nelkf looked as if she was going to say something, but then stopped. The fact of the matter was, she didn't know. She had originally thought it would be the authorities, but then she realized that they would most likely care less that a fight broke out. In which case, they really didn't need to get going. 

Jax watched the Sklinth stare into space curiously. "Okay Nel? Are you okay with staying here a while longer?" 

"I don't like it here," she muttered. "Really don't like it." 

"We'll leave soon," Jax promised her. 

"Oh, what's your rush?" Cail grinned and flopped into the chair nearest him. "Don't you feel good or something, um-" he sort of snickered. "'Nel'?" 

The Sklinth glared at him. "My race does not drink, and normally we do not socialize with others outside our species. I'm not here by any choice of my own." 

"Well, mine does," Cail told her. He smiled continuously at her, something that annoyed her immensely. "And I am. So just relax." 

Nelkf growled. It did seem to startle the boy, but Jax put his hand on her shoulder and she stopped. "Nelkf, don't go bezerk over Cail. It won't do you any good, and it won't accomplish anything." 

"Yeah, and I wouldn't be much fun to kill anyhow," Cail added with a grin. 

Nelkf looked the boy up and down. "You're annoying," she told him. 

He shrugged. "I try to be." 

Nelkf laughed. Alright. So the Human Cail isn't such a bad guy. Annoying, obnoxious, cocky and pesky, but he isn't so bad. Maybe her race had been wrong about Humans the whole time. Maybe. 

Cail turned his attention to Jax. "So what brings you back to this dustball anyway? I thought you were off zooming around the Galaxy." Nelkf thought she detected a slight hint of scorn in Cail's voice, but nothing else indicated he was angry with Jax. 

"Not since I got captured by some long forgotten Imp. Nel and I were lucky to escape." 

"Extremely lucky," muttered Nelkf. "If Necho had any more to throw at us, I'd be on the brink of insanity." 

I'm not so sure you're not at times, Jax thought. "Anyway, I need my ship fixed up, and I may need a few extra hands to work on her." 

"Sure, I'll help." Cail said with a grin. "Where do you two plan to go after that?" 

Jax and Nelkf looked at each other in confusion. They hadn't given that any thought. Where would they go? What exactly would they do? Suddenly, Nelkf had an idea. "Head for the New Republic, maybe. I don't know about Jax, but I'm going to go back to my job." 

"What is that?" Cail asked. 

The word was half way out of her mouth before she stopped herself. "Y-wing pilot." she finished quickly. "What about you? What's your job?" For a moment, Cail looked puzzled. With a shrug, he finally said; "I may as well tell you. It's not like you won't guess it in a while." 

"So," Nelkf growled. "What do you do?" 

"Whatever a want," Cail replied cheerfully. "In whatever sense you'd care to take that. If Jax can spare anything from his cargo, I sell that. If not, well.." 

"You steal things," Jax finished off. 

"A glitbiter thief," Nelkf muttered. "Just who I don't need to be friends with." 

Cail looked at her for a moment, and he seemed upset, maybe even angry. Nelkf bit her tongue. She hadn't wanted to hurt his feelings. She was just used to being nasty towards Humans. But his offense to the idea that he might be an addict suggested to her that that was what he was. Whoops. Slip of the forked tongue if I ever saw one. 

Cail must have realized then that Nelkf meant no real offense towards him, she was just in a nasty mood. He smiled at her, and even laughed. "I think we could get to be friends, Nel." 

Nelkf grinned and shook her head. "I don't know about that," Our morals don't run so much down the same path enough to be friends. "And my name is 'Nelkf' not 'Nel'." 

Jax glared at her. "Give him a break, Nel. It's not like either of us speaks your language." 

Nelkf growled at him, but finally gave in with a sigh. "Alright. Fine. But can we go now? If I stay here any longer I might kill someone." That was no joke. Sklinths were a bloodthirsty race with hatred for crowded, noisy places. 

"Can I at least get a drink?" Cail asked. 

Nelkf looked at Jax angrily. No way, She thought. I am not staying here any longer. I want to leave. Tell him no. Or better yet, tell him to catch up with us later. Okay? 

Unfortunately, Nelkf did not have telepathic capabilities. Jax glared accusingly at Cail. "A drink," he said firmly. "Not three." 

"If it's money you're worried about, I can pay for my own drinks-" Cail stopped in mid sentence. Jax was glaring at him with a look that could have frozen a bantha. "But I can see that it's not," he said quickly. "Okay, I'll take what I can get, I guess." 

A few minutes later, Cail had finished his drink, and they were ready to leave. Nelkf was a bit puzzled at why Jax had reacted like that. It was clear that it was not because he wanted to leave -it was something else. Nelkf resolved to ask Jax about it when they were alone. She remembered Jax saying something else about Cail. Nelkf struggled to remember... 

Suddenly she stopped dead in her tracks. All other thoughts were gone, only one remained. Something was wrong. 


	19. how to hotwire a speederbike in less tha...

**Dark Shadows**  


Cail and Jax stopped, and noticed an expression of fear frozen on her face. Cail tugged at her arm. "Let's go Nel." She wouldn't shut up about how much she wanted to leave a few moments ago. 

The Sklinth didn't move. 

Jax cocked his head and walked to stand beside her. "What's the holdup?" 

"She won't move," Cail told him. "Is she going to go crazy and kill people like she said?" 

Jax shook his head. "I don't know. I don't think so." 

"I hope not." 

Jax waved his hand up and down in front of Nelkf's face. He received no reaction. "What's wrong, Nel?" 

"Something," Nelkf said, her voice seemed far away. "Is very wrong." 

"Well, what?" 

"Look out!" Cail yelped. Before they had a chance to turn, Cail pushed them both to the ground as red blaster bolts whizzed overhead. Turning to them, he said; "I think I found out what's so 'wrong'." 

Nelkf could barely see the people firing on the cantina, there was too much smoke, but to her, they looked like the same goons who had been chasing her. "Necho chee!" she exclaimed. 

"It's an ambush!" Jax yelled. 

"You noticed?" Nelkf replied sarcastically. 

"Well, they're not after me!" Cail told them. 

"You sure?" 

"Yes! I cover my steps very carefully!" Cail acted as if he were pleading in front of a judge. "They must be after you!" 

"Rakson." 

Both Cail and Jax turned to face her. "Who?" Cail asked. 

Jax shook his head. "It can't be. How could it be? You killed him, Nelkf!" 

She shook her head. "That doesn't mean he didn't get the order out for our capture before he died." Her breathing began to grow short and rigid. "They're going to kill me," she whispered. "We have to go!" she started to jump up. "We have to go now!" 

"Whoa, Nelkf." Jax pushed her back down. "Stay down, be calm. They might not be after us." 

"They are," she told him. "They know we're here. We have to get out!" 

"Okay," Cail said, trying to stay calm himself. "Not so bad. There's two doors, see? We'll take the other one." He started to move for the back door, cautiously and carefully. 

Jax tugged at Nelkf's sleeve. "Come on, Nel. This way. Follow Cail and keep your head down." 

Nelkf complied. As she moved along, she winced each time she put her hand down. Jax noticed. "You should get a bandage for that," he told her. 

Nelkf ignored him. The wound had stopped bleeding a bit, and if it got infected, she would fight it off. If not, so was the greater good. 

Jax saw that the look of terror was still haunting her face. But now, it seemed mixed with thought. She's really frightened. I wonder why that is. What has she done? 

"They figured out who I am," Nelkf whispered. 

"Why should that matter?" 

The trio ducked for cover behind an upturned table. Nelkf shook her head. "Maybe sometime I'll tell you. But now is hardly that time." 

Cail un-holstered his blaster and started to fire back at the goons. "Look," he said mock-calmly, "I hate to break up a perfectly interesting discussion and all, but we need something to slow them down." 

Nelkf's eyes lit up. With her good hand, she reached into her pocket and pulled out the small grenade she had stolen on their escape. She held it out to Cail. "Will this do?" 

Cail grinned maniacally. "Yeah," he said with an evil grin, "that'll do just fine." 

"Hey, wait." Jax took it from Nelkf's hand, making sure Cail wasn't about to get his hands on an explosive device. He glared at his friend. "We only want time for a get-away, not to bring the whole cantina down on top of us." Cail nodded, but he didn't seem too sure. 

Jax pried open the explosive casing and removed a few key parts. Shutting it back up, he handed it to Cail. "There. Now it won't explode, but it'll create a smoke screen and keep them on their toes." 

Nelkf scowled. "But now it's a dud." she observed. 

Jax grinned. "Right, but they don't know that." 

Cail frowned, but readied himself to throw the dormant grenade. "Only you could take all the fun outta something that goes 'ka-bang'." he muttered. 

Cail threw the little once explosive into the middle of the floor. Some of the goons made a mad dash out of the cantina, and some others hit the deck. The grenade itself gave a small hiss and began to spray smoke all around. Cail blinked in surprise, and then laughed. "I'm ready to eat my words. That was cool!" 

Nelkf glanced at Jax. "How did you do that?" 

Jax shook his head. "My parents owned a mechanic shop. I learned a lot about machines." The smoke was beginning to thicken. Soon it was hard to see. Jax nudged Nelkf. "Come on, both of you. We better get out of here before the smoke clears." 

Nelkf nodded, and she and Cail followed him out. 

The heat and light of the Tatooine day struck them suddenly, and made Nelkf wince, she had been born on a jungle world, and her species was more accustomed to humid climates then ultra dry ones. She shuddered. 

Jax glanced around, and was about to signal them to leave the doorway, when he caught a movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned, then cursed aloud at what he saw. 

One of the goons was rounding the bend and was about to call out to his friends when a blaster bolt struck him in the throat. A second bolt followed the first and sank into the goon's rib cage. The man fell over without so much as a peep. 

Jax looked and saw Nelkf holding a blaster aimed still in the goon's direction. He looked puzzled for a moment before she explained. 

"Had to destroy the vocal cords first or he would have screamed. The second shot was just to finish him off quickly," she told them. "We haven't got time to sit around and watch him suffocate to death." 

Jax regarded her strangely for a moment, then decided she did have a point, no matter how twisted it might be. He turned his attention towards Cail, who was looking at Nelkf with no less then horrified confusion. Jax called their attention. "Okay, great. But how are we going to get out of here? We can't stay in Mos Eisley and get chased all over by these goons. How are we going to get transportation?" 

"I saw two swoops a little ways down the street," Cail offered. "We could hot-wire them, but I'd need your help, Jax." 

"What do you mean 'help'? I'm the mechanic. I'll be the one doing all the work," he said jokingly. To Nelkf he said; "You stay here, we'll be back." 

"And if you're not?" As much as I hate to admit it, I'm starting to like this friend of yours. And you, Smuggler. 

"Use your judgment," Jax said calmly. "If we're not back in a while, just come looking for us. Okay?" 

Nelkf was going to say something in response, but she didn't have the chance. Jax and Cail were already gone, and she was alone. This is not a good thing, she decided. Checking her blaster's power, she discovered that it was nearly finished off. Okay, that does it. I'm not waiting around here. Besides, they could use my help, can't they? Well, if not, that's their problem. 

With that thought firm in her mind, she began to follow Jax and Cail around the bend and out of the alleyway. She stepped out onto the street- 

-And was nearly run over by a swoop. She leapt back and prepared to snarl something nasty at the driver, only to find that the driver was...Cail? 

Jax spun the other swoop around the corner and offered Nelkf a hand up. "Come on Nel, get aboard." 

But Nelkf was not done with Cail yet. "You jerk!" she snarled. "You ass! You half-baked, rancor-kissing, glitbiter idiot!" 

Cail laughed. "Save the compliments for later." 

"You could've killed me!" 

"But I didn't," Cail countered. "So there's no harm done, right?" 

Jax shook his head. "Come on, Nelkf. Let's go." 

"Where are we going?" She asked. 

"To a place where I can get some parts for my ship," he replied. "It's not that far." 

"Not far as in 'in town?'" 

Jax helped her climb onto his swoop. "Not far as in 'in Anchorhead.' Far enough away that we won't get caught, near enough that we won't die of old age." 

Cail and Jax gunned the engines of the swoops and the small crafts sped off into the streets of Mos Eisley. 

Something had been nagging at Jax's mind. It was the fact that Nelkf was just a little too vicious to be a Y-wing pilot. She was just too good at killing. She was so cold-blooded about it, it almost scared him. And she had actually explained how she had killed the goon and kept it silent. Where had she come from? He had only one way to find out. "Nelkf, who are you that the Imps want to kill you so bad? What did you do?" 

Nelkf sighed heavily. "I'm sorry Jax, I'd like to tell you, but I don't know if I can." 

"It's okay, you can tell me." 

Cail glanced at her from his swoop, missing a Jawa crossing the street by chance. "Hey, tell me too." 

Nelkf clenched her injured hand and winced at the pain. "No. Not yet, not now. Some other time, maybe." 

Jax shook his head. "I get it. You think I won't understand. Nelkf, I'm a smuggler, I'll understand." 

Nelkf let the animal growl grow in her throat as she spoke. "Jax, don't you get it? I just don't want to talk about it yet!" 

Cail clicked his tongue, barely hearable over the din of the swoops. "I know the feeling. Can you at least tell us why they want you so bad?" 

Nelkf let out a hiss. "That's kind of something that involves an explanation of my life. What I will say is that I was in trouble with Imperial loyalists before, and now that they know that I'm alive, I'm in worse trouble." 

Jax laughed. "Aren't we all?" 

"Not to my knowledge," replied Cail. Squinting over the horizon, he let out a small whistle. "Uh-oh." 

"What uh-oh?" Nelkf questioned nervously. "I don't like uh-ohs. They don't mean good things." 

"What is it?" Jax demanded, slowing his speeder. 

"Speeders," Cail muttered. "it's those goons. We're in trouble." 

Nelkf squinted into the sunlight. "How many are there? Maybe we can fight them." 

"Maybe four. Moving fast." Jax shielded his eyes in the sun. "It looks like they might have blasters. I don't think we have much of a fighting chance." 

"Do they see us?" 

Before either Jax or Cail could reply, a laser bolt ripped between the swoops, turning the sand it hit into a tiny patch of glass. Jax slammed his foot down on the accelerator and the swoop lurched forward at an alarming speed. Cail did the same. "Yeah," muttered Jax, "they see us." 


	20. why it's a bad idea to jump off your spe...

**Dark Shadows**  


Nelkf had to shut her eyes as the dusty wind whipped into her face. Bits of sand stung her cheeks and bit into her lips. She licked out her tongue and tasted blood. That wasn't a good sign. "How far is it to Anchorhead?" 

"Too far," Jax replied. 

"Then where are we going?" 

Jax nodded towards Cail's swoop. "Don't ask me. Talk to that genius." 

Nelkf considered it, but as she was about to say something, Cail called out. "There it is! The Not-so Great Pit of Carkoon. Get ready to jump on the count of three." 

Nelkf looked ahead of them at what she had thought was a trick of the suns on the sand. At a second glance, it proved to be a gaping pit yawning in the desert. Suddenly, Nelkf realized that there was just one thing wrong with Cail's plan. "Guys, I can't…" 

"One..." Cail began. 

Nelkf tried to tell them. "Cail, no, I don't-" 

"Two.." he cut her off. The mouth of the pit was very close now, wide and ready for them to slip in. 

"Guys, no!" she shrieked. 

"Three!" Cail hollered. "Jump ship!" 

Nelkf felt Jax grab her wrist and yank her off the swoop as he jumped. She fell into the sands along side him, and instinctively dug down just enough to be out of sight. 

Nelkf heard a muffled explosion as the two swoops tumbled into the pit. Voices hollered out orders, and she was able to pick up enough to know that the goons thought they were now dead. Apparently, they hadn't seen Jax or Cail bail off of their swoops, or her be pulled along. So, she concluded, those two must have had enough intelligence to hide under the sand too. 

A few moments later, the voices subsided and Nelkf could hear the speeders move away. Brushing the sand first from her face and eyes, she sat up and looked around her. Jax and Cail were doing likewise. 

"We were lucky that time," Jax observed. "I hope they don't show up again. I've just about had it with these stupid Imps chasing us halfway across the Galaxy." 

Nelkf sighed. Jax really didn't know the half of it. Glancing around her, she saw some dark clouds forming around the horizon. The speeders had gone in the opposite direction. She was able to tell that that meant something, but Sklinths were not long-term thinkers and she couldn't tell what. 

Apparently Cail saw the clouds too. "Uh-oh. Sandstorms." 

"Great, Cail," muttered Jax. "You had to get us stranded out here in the Dune Sea with no way back right before a sandstorm." 

Cail shrugged. "Guess I didn't think of that." 

"You're never thinking," Nelkf snapped, "are you?" 

Cail grinned sheepishly and shrugged. Nelkf found herself debating whether or not to kill him. 

Jax seemed to notice her tensing for a killing jump, and put his hand on her shoulder. Nelkf immediately calmed herself down, but didn't seem too happy about it. Jax suddenly got an idea. Well, more of a thought on an idea, really. "Hey Cail," he began, "you wouldn't've made us jump into the sand in the middle of nowhere without an idea of where we would go later, right?" 

"Huh?" Cail blinked a moment, then snapped his fingers. "Oh, yeah!" he exclaimed with a laugh, "I forgot! There's caves around here." 

Nelkf looked puzzled. "Caves?" she said, beginning to doubt Cail's sanity. "In the sand?" 

"There aren't any caves around here," Jax pointed out. "If there are, the sandstorms collapse them by the time you get to them." 

Cail shook his head. "No, you don't understand. What crashed around here about thirteen years ago?" 

"The sail barge?" Nelkf yelped in surprise. "Jabba's sail barge?" Everyone and anyone knew what had befallen the Hutt crimelord, and who had been the cause of it. 

Jax, too, was equally amazed. He shook his head in disbelief. "No way. The Jawas would've snapped up all the scraps in an instant." 

Cail again shrugged. "I don't know what happened," he said coolly. "I wasn't even old enough to care that it happened, but the Jawas didn't take much. Maybe they were scared off, but the wreck is still here." 

"How do you know?" 

He laughed. "I just came across it accidentally. Actually, I sort of fell across it. Literally." 

Nelkf glanced around herself again. Nothing but sand as far as she could see. Sand, and the nearing storm clouds. "I don't see it." 

Cail rolled his eyes. "Well, that's because it's under the sand. You have to look for it." 

Jax stood up and brushed the sand off his shirt. "Come on, Nel. Let's start looking." 

"Hey, be careful guys," Cail advised, "The openings are hidden." 

Nelkf shook her head. Careful wasn't something she was good at. She wondered exactly why Sklinths were so terrible at thinking for long periods of time. It was quite annoying, it made her race seem stupid. But they were far from that! Well, Nelkf would learn to overcome that setback. She had overcome her race's shortcomings before. It might take a while, but she would learn how to think for long periods of time by herself. 

What annoyed her most was that no matter how hard she tried, Basic mathematics were just abstract to her. She couldn't solve Basic math problems-even the easiest ones. Even more humiliating, she could not learn the numbers in the Basic language. Why did Cail have to start a countdown to the jump? I was almost a spot on the bottom of that pit. If Jax weren't there to save me.... 

Suddenly, the ground gave way under Nelkf's feet and she found herself tumbling downward under the sand. She could hear Jax's voice calling her name as the darkness surrounded her. 


	21. spelunking with a glitbiter and a smuggl...

**Dark Shadows**  


Nelkf hit the floor of the cave on her side and had to blink a few times before her blood started to circulate again. The eerie green light from her eyes filled the cavern around her, and she could see metal girders arching to the surface. Surprisingly, the surface was not as far away as the fall had made it feel. Jax's face peered down at her through the opening in the sand. 

"Nelkf, are you okay?" he asked. 

Nelkf nodded, not sure if he could see her in the dark, but sure he could see her glowing green eyes. "Yeah, I think so." 

Cail's head, too, was soon glancing down at her. "Hi, Nel," he called, "guess what?" 

I'm not in a mood to play guessing games. She thought angrily. "What?" she growled, anger residing on the edge of her voice. 

"You found the caves." 

She frowned in disgust. "Thank you for that observation, Cail. Now will you please get me out of here?" 

"Hold on a minute," Jax told her. Soon he was out of view. Nelkf leaned against the cavern walls. Yeah, where am I going to go anyway, Jax? 

A minute later Cail threw something down to her. She caught it in her hands, but could not for the life of her figure out what it was. In any case, it was far too small to help her out. She threw it to the floor angrily and snarled up at him. "Stop throwing junk at me and give me a hand, you dip!" 

A moment later, Cail was climbing down the girders into the cave with her. "It's not junk," he told her, "it's my luma, and we'll need it. So don't throw it across the cave. We've got to stay here for a bit." 

"Where did Jax go?" she demanded. 

"He's coming," Cail assured her, picking up his luma from the cave floor. "He dropped his luma in the sand, he needs to find it." 

Nelkf sniffed. "Good luck," she muttered. All the dunes looked alike, and the sand was so powdery that it would've covered anything left there in a matter of seconds. Anyway, Jax couldn't stay out that long with a sandstorm on the way. 

As Nelkf suspected, a moment later Jax climbed down into the caves too. "The sandstorm's getting closer," he told them. "We'll have to stay here until It blows over." 

"That's fine with me," Cail said cheerfully. "I like the caves." 

"I'd like It better if I could see," commented Jax. Obviously he hadn't been able to find his luma. Nelkf had figured that. 

"Not a problem," Cail switched on his luma and flicked it on and off in Jax's eyes. "See?" He waved the luma around, making sure his friend was completely annoyed with him. Nelkf snickered at Jax's expense. 

Jax swatted at the light, knocking it to the ground. "I would 'see' if you didn't make me see spots." 

Cail grinned. "Well, now you're seeing red." 

"I see you spattered on the dark side of a canyon wall is what I see," Jax said, balling a fist and looking like he was going to hit Cail. 

"Guys, stop being stupid!" Nelkf snapped. "We're still in the same amount of trouble as we were before." 

Cail looked puzzled. "Who's acting?" Cail wanted to know. 

Jax ignored Cail and turned his attention to Nelkf. "What do you mean, Nel?" he asked. 

"I mean," Nelkf said, gesturing around them, "this place will keep us safe from the sandstorm, but what about after that? The way we came in'll be all covered up. And even if we dig our way out, we'll never make it across the desert. I may not live here, but I do know that if the heat and dehydration don't get to you, the Sand People will." 

"We're not in trouble," Cail said with a shrug. 

Nelkf stared at him in disbelief. "What? Not in trouble?" 

Jax was equally confused. "What are you talking about, Cail?" 

"I don't know about getting out of the caves after the storm, but I've got a speeder stashed in here," he explained. "it could use some fixing up though, I wouldn't know that I'd trust it to get us out of here now." 

Nelkf nodded in approval. "Not bad for a glitbiter," she muttered. 

Cail narrowed his eyes at her. "I'll ignore that remark, thanks." 

"How bad is the speeder?" Jax asked, interrupting the forming argument. 

Cail gave him a totally blank look. "I have no idea. It looks battered, but that might just be the outside." 

"I guess I need to see it," Jax decided, "but I think I can fix it up. If it's not too bad. Where is it?" 

Cail shrugged. "I don't really remember," he said slowly, "but I know it's in the lower caves." 

Nelkf walked to one of the many tunnels leading in to the lower caves and shook her head. There were so many, how could they ever hope to find the one that held the speeder? 

A noise suddenly alerted Nelkf. It was some sort of hissing sound, perhaps mechanical, perhaps not. It was not like anything she had ever heard before. Maybe it was a sound that was common on Tatooine, but she knew that just the same, she should alert Jax and Cail to the sound. She whistled to them and they both turned around. "Guys, do you hear that?" 

"Hear what?" Jax asked her. 

"That dripping sound of your brain draining through the hole in your head," Cail said jokingly. 

"We don't hear anything, Nel," Jax finished, ignoring Cail's interruption. 

Nelkf raised a finger to her lips in a signal for silence. "Listen," she said softly. 

Jax and Cail listened, and sure enough, they could hear the hissing, humming sound from deep in the caves. Jax shook his head. "What is that?" 

Cail shrugged hopefully. "The wind, maybe?" 

Nelkf shook her head at him. "The wind howls, not hums, Cail." 

Jax shrugged. "Maybe it's a sleeping bantha," he suggested. 

"Or a kryt dragon." 

The trio shuddered at the thought. A kryt dragon would have them all for breakfast, lunch and dinner if that was indeed what was dwelling in the cave. Nelkf looked up at the ceiling, wishing she could see the sun god. Hey, Necho, you listening? I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, and I hate you. She glanced down at the gash on her hand that was now clogged with the desert's grit. Licking out her tongue, she cleaned the wound, spitting the blood and sand out on the cave floor. I guess I should get that covered soon or it'll get infected, she decided. That would be the smart thing to do. But then again, who said Sklinths were smart? 

Cail slipped his blaster out of his pocket and switched it to 'kill'. "Well, I guess the only way we'll find out what it is is to go down there and see." 

Jax, too, set his blaster off safety. Nodding seriously, he said; "Yeah, I guess you're right. We won't be able to find the speeder if we don't go looking." 

Nelkf blinked in surprise. What, are these two related? Do they both share the same lack of common sense? It was true. Jax and Cail both seemed to share the dame total (and sometimes dangerous) capriciousness. If anyone was going to keep them from marching head-on into their doom, it was going to wind up being her. "No, guys. We could get some better weapons and explore the caves then," But the two were already sneaking into the darkness despite Nelkf's urging not to. She tried to plead with them. They were the only people she could really trust at this point as friends, and she didn't want them to be eaten alive! Who would? "Come on! Live a long life! Please?" 

But Jax was already gone, and the last bit of Cail's luma was just disappearing. Nelkf sighed and stared off in the direction they had taken. "Well, I'm not following you," she said stubbornly. Nelkf stood there only a moment more, then sighed in disgust at her own weakness and ran off down the tunnel after her friends. 


	22. buncha idiots wandering around in the da...

**Dark Shadows**  


It was dark. Too dark. Jax could hardly see where he was going, and could see nothing at all of the tunnel in front of him, save what Cail's luma shone on. Even then, the light from the luma was flickering dangerously, threatening to go out every minute. Jax was also beginning to think there had been no sound at all, that he had just imagined it. It wasn't making any sound now. "You hear it anymore?" he asked Cail. 

"Nope. The humming's stopped." 

"Maybe we're going the wrong way," he suggested. 

Again, the sound filled the tunnel, now most definitely louder, but still nice and calming. Cail shook his head calmly. "Uh, nope. We're going the right way." Cail turned, careful not to shine the light in his friend's eyes. "But now it doesn't sound so animal." 

Then, from behind them, a green light filtered into the cavern. It grew brighter as something approached them. 

Cail spun around. "What is that?" he cried. Two green specks, keeping totally level to one another floated closer, blinking on and off ever few seconds. 

"Guys, calm down, it's just me." Nelkf held up her hands defensively. Cail lowered his luma. Blinding her would do him no good. 

Jax laughed. "Nelkf! What are you doing?" 

Cail cocked his head, looking puzzled. "And where's that glow coming from? What do you have?" 

"Nothing," she replied. "it's my eyes." 

Jax explained. "They glow in the dark, but in the light they just look weird." 

Nelkf cut him off. "And as far as why I'm here," she rested her wounded hand on Jax's shoulder. "I owe him." 

Jax shook his head. "You said we were even." 

"We were until you saved me from being part of a swoop wreck." 

Cail looked at her sideways in the near darkness. "I thought you were a being who didn't care about others." 

"I sort of am," she said, "but I guess you two are too, so I can relate to you." 

Cail laughed. "I also thought you said you wanted to live a long life." 

"I do," she said, "but what's the point if I have the blood of my friends on my hands." Suddenly, she clapped her hands over her mouth, as if she couldn't believe what she had just said. A moment later, she recovered and took a deep breath. "Well?" she said, pulling her own blaster out of her pocket. As few shots as I've got, it may come in handy. "Are we going to check this out or just wait around?" 

Cail laughed and shined his luma down the path they were taking. "That's more of what I understand. Movement and action, not that philo-sofi-fucl stuff." 

Nelkf knew that wasn't how the word was pronounced, but she didn't know the correct pronunciation and no one seemed to care, so she just kept quiet. 

The sound was closer now, although it seemed to have taken on a deep hum with no trace of a hiss at all. The trio continued to sneak along the walls of the cavern until they reached a final cavern. Three smaller tunnels forked off in separate directions. There was no way to tell where the noise was coming from. 

Cail turned to his companions and shrugged. "Looks like we're going to play banana. Here, Jax," he tossed Jax the luma. "I can see fairly okay in the dark. I'll give a yell if I need help." 

Jax nodded as Cail ran off into the middle of the three tunnels. He then put his hand on Nelkf's shoulder. "You'll be okay?" 

Nelkf glared at him for a moment, but realized Jax meant no offense. Just the same, she wasn't happy. "I'm able to take care of myself, I'm not a kid," she told him before turning and marching into the left tunnel. 


	23. the highlight of LAMENESS in this fic.

**Dark Shadows**  


Nelkf moved along slowly in the darkness. She had a feeling that she was down bellow the wreck, perhaps even farther then the pit. Up ahead, the tunnel opened up and the humming became louder. She chanced danger and called out. "He-hello?" she called, "Is anyone here?" 

The hum ended in a buzzing hiss and a figure moved into the circle of green light her eyes created. "Ah," the figure spoke, "I have waited. Waited since before your lifetime and now finally one of you has come." An old, graying woman with strangely bluish tinted hair stood before Nelkf. Her cloths were simple and old fashioned, her hair in a wild tangle. Nelkf had never seen her before, but felt secure in her presence. 

The woman cut into Nelkf's face with her nails. "You need not fear," she said calmly. "Fear is of the Dark side. And as I have said, one of you has finally come." 

She's crazy, thought Nelkf. Absolutely quackers. "What are you talking about, lady? I don't even know you!" 

"But I know you," This is getting weird, Nelkf thought. "Hmmm. You are strong in the Force, Karlian, but the Dark side tempts you. You enjoy the kill. Resist that." 

Nelkf's eyes widened. "You're a Jedi!" she exclaimed. 

The old woman smiled and nodded. "So shall you become. Train in the Force. There is a place where you can do that, a world where the Jedi Master Skywalker may show you the ways of your ancestors." 

Whoa. Hold it. Me? A Jedi? No. It's impossible. I'm not a mystic, I never will be! "You must be mistaken. I'm just a pilot." 

"No. You are strong in the Force. I feel it. You are already learning to sense danger. You have great potential." 

No, no, no. This is not happening to me. I don't want to become a Jedi. I don't want to protect the Galaxy. I was trained as a killer. You can't make a Jedi out of an- Nelkf stopped in mid thought, afraid the old woman might be able to read her mind. "I'm sorry to ruin your wait lady, but I'm not a Jedi, I don't want to be, and I never will be." 

The old woman pressed a metal cylinder into Nelkf's hands. "You will be. It is meant for you. A gift. Use it well, Karlian, and resist the Dark side." 

Nelkf had a million questions, a million protests, but none of them left her throat. She reached out a hand to stop the old woman, but she had disappeared, cloak and all. One thing remained on the cavern floor. Nelkf picked it up and examined it closely. It was a coin, round and silver, with several words inscribed in Basic upon it. Basic she could just barely read, but somehow, the words made sense. 

I teach only what you teach me, 

Never more, never less, 

I am never what you think, 

Never more, never less, 

The knowledge you will learn is to be learned from yourself, 

Nothing more, nothing less, 

It is life from which you will learn, 

Nothing more, nothing less, 

Except- 

The words left off, and Nelkf had to turn the coin over to see the last line. Blinking in surprise, she read aloud what she saw there. "The Force." 

Nelkf held the coin by the rough string attached to it and slid it over her head. Little did she know by doing that, she shed her old personality and became a Sklinth apart from her people. 

"Nelkf! Nel!" she turned to see her two friends thundering down the path. Jax looked relived to see her alright. Cail sighed thankfully and explained. "It's been hours since you came back up, we thought you'd been eaten or something!" 

Nelkf stared, stunned. Hours! It had seemed barely a moment to her! "I'm fine," she said at last. 

Cail pointed to her hand. "Nel, the cut!" 

Nelkf glanced down at her wounded hand. The knife cut, once swollen and bleeding, was now completely healed, not even a scar remaining. In her surprise, she dropped the cylinder to the floor. 

Jax watched her reaction and saw the wound had disappeared. "How'd you do that?" 

"I don't know. It's..." She retrieved the cylinder from the ground. Her voice came out as barely a whisper. "A lightsaber." A far away look crept into her eyes and she peered into the darkness. "She really was a Jedi." 

"What?" now it was Jax's turn to be confused. 

Cail shook his head. "Don't talk crazy, Nel. The Jedi are a conspiracy set up by New Republic to scare kids to bed. Like reality and taxes." 

Jax gave him a strange look, but said nothing. 

Nelkf looked at the coin again. "Maybe the old woman was right. Maybe I am a Jedi." 

Suddenly, her vision filled with darkness, and she fell to the floor. Slipping into unconsciousness, the last thing she heard was Jax calling her name. Then, all was black. 


	24. and cial wanders off to get drunk again....

**Dark Shadows**  


Nelkf awoke feeling stiff and tired. The heat of Tatooine beat down on her, but she could feel a soft cushion underneath her. She sat up and looked around, seeing that she was in the back of a landspeeder that was parked on the side of a road in one of the towns. This town seemed less active then Mos Eisley, and that suited Nelkf just fine. 

Coming towards her from farther up the street was Jax, carrying papers Nelkf guessed gave them a right to leave Mos Eisley. He waved them at her as he came closer, and she waved back. 

"Are you alright, Nel?" he asked. "We were worried when you passed out in the caves." 

Nelkf laughed. "I was worried too, you know. How did you get out of there anyway?" 

"We were finally able to find the speeder, but it was all full of sand. I had a time cleaning it out. That was when you were in the caves," Jax explained. 

"But how did you get out?" she asked. "Didn't the sandstorm come?" 

Jax dropped the papers calmly onto the seat. "Oh, it came alright," he said. "Cail and I took nearly forever to dig an opening big enough for the speeder to get through." 

"Speaking of Cail," Nelkf said, glancing around as if expecting to find the third in their band, "where did he go?" 

Jax looked confused. "He wasn't here when you woke up?" 

Nelkf shook her head. "No, I thought he might've gone to the with you to get the papers." 

Jax muttered and cursed aloud. Seeing Nelkf's puzzled expression, he motioned for her to follow him. "Come on. I bet I know where he is. We'd better go get him." 

Nelkf still was confused, but as Jax began to walk away, she jumped out of the speeder to follow him. "Are you sure it's safe to leave the papers there like that?" she asked as they walked. "Won't somebody steal them?" 

Jax shook his head. "This is Anchorhead, not Mos Eisley. I wouldn't leave them there that long, but we won't have much to worry about for a while." 

Nelkf decided that there could've been worse places then Mos Eisley in the Universe, but she doubted she would find one in her lifetime. She didn't want to find one in her lifetime! 

Nelkf was puzzled when Jax lead her to the entrance to yet another cantina. Why would Cail be here? Nelkf thought that maybe he had wanted to play sabacc and Jax just wanted him to stop so they could get going. But somehow, she doubted that was right. 

At the entrance, Jax turned to Nelkf. "You don't have to follow me in if you don't want to," he told her, "I know it gets you set on edge." 

That isn't even the word for it, Nelkf thought. But Jax might need her help. Besides, if she was going to get over her prejudices she was going to have to learn to deal with the quirks of other races. She shook her head. "No, it's okay Jax. I can deal with it." 

Jax shrugged. "Okay, but I warn you, you probably won't like what you're about to learn." 

Nelkf nodded in return. "Probably not." 

Calmly, Nelkf followed Jax into the cantina. 


	25. fun with slurred speech 101

**Dark Shadows**  


Not as many creatures dwelled in this place as in the Mos Eisley cantina, but there was a great variety of species there. Smells from a thousand worlds assaulted her nose and voices and languages of millions of beings mixed and intermingled. Nelkf saw them all and let the few words of foreign languages she could understand mix around inside her mind. If one thing could be said to her credit, no one could master a language faster then she. It had helped her wonderfully many times. Now the skill was just of entertainment value. She listened in on what the other beings were saying, but not much of it was interesting. No one was plotting to kill, rob or maim anyone else. Nelkf felt strange in such a calm, orderly place. 

Nelkf was able to spot Cail, and at first glance found nothing amiss. He appeared to be asleep, arms folded and face buried in them on the table. But a Sklinthi nose is only slightly sharper then a Human nose, and Nelkf could smell intoxicants. She had never seen a being drink them self senseless before. It puzzled her as to why Cail might have done that. 

Jax gave his friend's shoulder a rough shove. "Wake up," he growled, shoving Cail harder. His voice was anything but concerned. "Wake up." 

Cail stirred and looked at them blearily. His eyes were glazed over, looking to Nelkf like fogged blue glass. He grinned foolishly, not seeming to realize he was in trouble. 

Jax sighed in disgust. "I thought you got over this," he muttered not at anyone really, but sort of at Cail. 

Cail blinked in an alcohol-induced confusion. "Over what?" he asked, his words slurred to near unintelligible. 

Jax frowned, and for a moment, Nelkf thought he might actually growl the way her people did. Instead, Jax just shook his head. "Okay, get up," he muttered, "Let's get going." 

Cail shook his head. "'M not done yet. 'M gettn' anur' drink." 

"No, you're not," Jax snapped angrily. "Now get up, we're leaving." 

Cail waved. "Bye." 

Jax sighed and turned to Nelkf. "You see if you can get him out of here. I have to go see if they'll let me squabble over the bill." 

Nelkf nodded, still wondering why Cail had gotten drunk. Before Nelkf could begin to get Cail moving, her ears picked up a faint sound. Someone was trying to get her attention. Looking around, she saw the woman behind the bar waving for her to come over. Seeing no immediate harm in doing so, she complied. 

"Did you want me for something?" she asked. Her hand reflexively went to her blaster. No one who wanted to live past middle age would deal with a total stranger defenseless. 

"I just thought I'd tell you to keep an eye on the kid there," she told her, "He's probably had more to drink then is good for him already." 

Nelkf nodded. "Yeah, we figured that out." 

"I'd pick up an anti-intoxicant patch for him if I were you," the woman told her, "He may not be alright otherwise." 

Nelkf glanced back at Cail who had seemed to have acquired a bottle full of some sort of drink. Damn, you stupid glitbiter, what's wrong with you? "I don't know that he'll like that. I'm not his watchdog after all. I'm just a friend." 

The woman shrugged. "It was only a suggestion, dear. But I would keep an eye on him if I were you." 

If you were me, If you were me. Well, you're not me, Lady. Be thankful for that. This was what Nelkf thought, but what she said was; "I will, thanks." 

Nelkf returned to the task set before her. She mentally reviewed the problem. They had to leave, but Cail didn't want to. Jax wanted her to get Cail moving. Well, that wasn't even a problem. Nelkf grabbed Cail's jacket collar and dragged him to his feet. Cail looked surprised, and Nelkf didn't blame him. Sklinthi strength always came as a surprise to those who weren't expecting it. "Come on, you sorry excuse for a Human," she growled at him. 

Puzzlement left Cail's eyes and he started to laugh, as if he knew something she didn't. Nelkf couldn't help but think that perhaps he did. After all, how could she say what went on in his mind? Had she gone through the metamorphosis her species usually did, she would, but that was an opportunity missed, and what was missed couldn't be helped. 

"Cail," she repeated "we've got to be going now, and if you don't go on your own, I'll drag you out of here." 

Cail laughed again and took a drink from the bottle in his hands. Defiance, Nelkf thought angrily. No, not with me you don't. Tightening her grip on Cail's jacket collar, she started to lift him up. She was now bent on getting him out of here, his feet dangling at least a centimeter off the ground. Once again, Cail was surprised at her strength. 

"I'll walk!" he pleaded. "I'll walk!" 

Nelkf managed to restrain her anger and let Cail back down. The addict seemed confused a moment, then started to head towards the door. Actually, he only made it as far as the next table before his balance gave out on him. Nelkf checked around for Jax, he would know what to do. But, to her dismay, she saw he had left already. Sklinthi intelligence - the slowest form of thought in this godforsaken Universe, she cursed herself. Well, she couldn't stop to go over all the facts now. She would just have to trust her judgment. I don't know how smart that is....But what choice do I have? 

Karlian, what are you thinking? She scolded herself, you can't be uncertain. Not now, not ever from here on in. If I'm meant to be anyone -not just a Jedi- I've got to be certain of myself. Just because Sklinthi logic is slow doesn't make it wrong. In fact, it only means we think things through. But there are times I need to trust myself in decisions. Like now. 

All this thought, unnoticed by Nelkf, took place in less then a second. Her thinking was actually quick. Not as fast as it could be, but not as slow as she thought it was. 

But her next thought was not on this. Her next thought was as to what to do about Cail. She decided that he wouldn't be too happy with her if she dragged him out after she promised she wouldn't. Finally, she just put her hand on Cail's shoulder and guided him. She wasn't sure if he noticed or not, Cail continued to drink from the bottle. And, as little as Nelkf knew about Human systems and drugs, she could tell Cail was not doing anything that would be good for him. 

Eventually, she managed to get him out of the cantina and onto the street. She noticed that now Cail's steps seemed even more unsure, and yet he continued to drink from the bottle. Nelkf decided to tell him he was going to make himself sick. 

"Hey, Glitbiter, are you feeling okay?" she asked. 

Cail looked towards her, and she was able to see his eyes were even blearier then before. A curse from some world or another flashed through her mind. Cail pulled away from her and stepped back, swallowing more of the strong liquid. His balance faltered, and Nelkf had to catch him by the shoulder before he fell. He grinned at her, and her nose nearly short-circuited from the smell of intoxicants. She wrinkled it unhappily. 

"Fine," Cail told her, "Realee'M ho-kay." 

She sighed in frustration as Cail took another drink from the bottle. "Don't you think you've had enough, though?" she asked him, keeping her hand firmly on his shoulder. 

"No." 

She glared at him angrily, silently wishing he would put down the bottle and listen to her. "Come on, Cail. That's plenty. You're going to feel like a flickodog got loose in your brain in the morning." 

Cail glanced to the side, saw Jax coming and quickly drank the last remnants of the bottle. He grinned defiantly at Nelkf, then lost his balance and fell against Jax's speeder. Tossing the bottle aside, he glanced back towards Jax, and spoke as if to prove something to him. "See?" he said with a half laugh, "I can han'l it." 

Nelkf rolled her eyes and Jax shook his head angrily. "Cail," Jax snapped. "get in the speeder and let's get going." 

Cail looked at him, slightly upset, but Nelkf saw that he was not about to listen to Jax. "No," he said finally. 

Jax hissed angrily, surprising Nelkf. She didn't know Humans could hiss. "You handle him," Jax muttered. "He seems to listen to you." 

Again, Nelkf was surprised. Cail listened to her? But if Jax was confident that she could get Cail to listen at all, she would do her best. She was beginning to think Jax knew her better then she did. "Cail," she looked into the boy's eyes, digging deep, wondering what she expected to come of this. "We have to get going now, will you get in the speeder, already? Please?" 

Cail blinked a moment, then looked at her curiously, as if exploring her mind back. Unbidden came a memory of something Nelkf had heard as a child, not even a two season old... 

Many centuries ago, her clan, clan Karlian, was said to have powers. The Guardians, they had been called. They had been able to link their minds to others, healing or informing. But the minds would remain linked as long as both sides believed it would hold. Then, long before Nelkf had been born, the clan, nearly all of it disappeared. No one knew what had happened to them. The branch of the clan she belonged to was the only one left, but the powers had never existed in any of the clan she knew, so they were thought to be a legend. 

But now they didn't seem quite so unrealistic. 

"Cail," she repeated softly. "Please get into the speeder so we can leave." 

Cail didn't say anything in return. Silently, he climbed into the back seat of the speeder and leaned against the side. 

Jax raised one eyebrow and looked at Nelkf in an unsure way. "How-" he began. Then he stopped. "I don't think I want to know. No, I'm sure I don't." he shook his head and hopped into the speeder. "Come on, Nel. You best get in if we want to get to the mechanic shop before it closes. Ky never lets anyone in after she closes. No matter how good friends they are with her." 

Nelkf was taken slightly aback by the quick switch in the conversation, but she jumped into the speeder and sat in the front seat next to Jax. Perhaps Humans switched topics frequently, Nelkf didn't know. She had never cared much about them, so she had never cared to learn about them. Nelkf glanced towards the back seat, checking on Cail. The boy's eyes were closed partway. Was he awake? 

"Hey, Glitbiter," she whispered, "How do you feel?" 

"Tired," Cail replied slowly. "I wanna sleep." 

"I don't think you should," she told him, "it might make you sicker." 

"I don' care," he muttered, shutting his eyes. 

Again, Nelkf's incomplete knowledge of Humans left her at a loss. Cail had already fallen asleep, despite her warning. Jax gunned the engine of the speeder and they moved off slowly. Cail gave a soft moan, but didn't stir otherwise. Nelkf looked ahead of them, but darkness was beginning to fall, and it was becoming hard to see. 

"You like Cail," Jax observed. "Don't you?" 

Nelkf nodded. "Like a brother, I think." Ethnic restrictions be damned. He's my brother, ki or ni. 

Jax shook his head. "You're asking for trouble, being nice to him like that. He'll be nice back, but you'll get nothing but grief. I don't get you, Sklinth." 

"What is wrong with him?" Nelkf asked. 

"He's an addict, you know that." Jax replied. "I don't know how he became one. I'd just gotten back from a smuggling trip when I found out. No one's ever done anything to help him, so far as I know. I don't even think he wants to be helped." 

"Isn't he your friend?" Nelkf asked. "Don't you care what happens to him?" 

Jax laughed. "Boy, you sure went through an attitude change." 

Nelkf spoke softly. "Maybe I'm just starting to realize what you knew all the long." She liked Jax and Cail, but both in different ways. No, she loved Jax. She looked towards him, wondering if he knew. 

Jax glanced towards her for an instant and their eyes met. Nelkf smiled. He knew, and he felt the same. Well, not the same, but still the same. 


	26. foreshadowing for a chapter that has yet...

**Dark Shadows**  


Almost an hour into the night, Cail stirred and let out a painful moan. 

Nelkf looked over her shoulder into the back seat and put her hand on Cail's shoulder. "What's wrong with him?" 

Jax shook his head. "He's got a hangover, that's all. He'll be okay in a few hours." 

"But he's okay, right?" 

"Right, don't worry." Jax slowed the speeder to a stop so Cail wouldn't be totally disoriented when he woke up. 

Cail stretched slowly and opened his eyes. Nelkf was able to see that they were bloodshot to a deep red. She didn't understand Humans at all. Should one of her people have blue eyes and have them bloodshot, they would turn purple, not with red whites and blue pupils! 

"How many angry osakan blood eaters," Cail muttered slowly, rubbing his head, "Can fit inside an eighteen year old's skull?" 

Nelkf didn't think that question made any sense. A blood eater was a big animal, there was no way even one could fit in a skull, let alone an eighteen year old's one. "I have no idea," she replied instead. 

"Neither do I," Cail replied with a laugh. "but it's way too many if you ask me." He attempted to sit up, but the pain in his head forced him back down. "Why does my head hurt so much?" he asked. 

"You mean you don't remember?" Nelkf said, wondering how this could be. Even Sklinths remembered how their pain occurred. Hell, that's the easiest thing for us to remember. 

Cail shook his head. "Not since I left the speeder when Jax went to get parts." 

"You were drunk." Jax told him. "Very." 

"Ooooh," Cail groaned and rubbed his head. "That explains a lot. I'm still surprised I don't remember. I think I might have been hallucinating." 

"I don't doubt that," muttered Jax. Jax did not seem happy at all, but just the same, he didn't seem angry either. Nelkf marveled at this ability. 

"Yeah," Cail replied cheerfully. "I thought Nelkf had a lightsaber," he laughed aloud, "and was going to be a Jedi!" 

"And that really happened," Nelkf said, feeling just a bit annoyed at Cail's disbelief. For some reason she felt the ancient urge to bite Cail for being so cocky and sure of himself, but she buried this thought. She pulled out the cylinder, which she now was sure of what it was, out of her pocket and showed it to him. "See?" 

"Wow!" Cail exclaimed. "Oh, wow! Oh...wait. That means I had.." he counted off several times on his fingers and shut his eyes under the pain. "Ohhhhhhhhhh. I don' want to do that again." he lay his head back on the side of the speeder and glanced at Nelkf curiously. "Nel, you remind me a lot of my sister." 

Now it was Jax's turn to laugh. "You don't have a sister," he told Cail. 

Cail yawned and shut his eyes again. "Really?" he asked. "For some reason, I remember having one..." 

Nelkf shook her head and turned the lightsaber over and over in her hands. I don't understand this. I'm supposed to be a Jedi. She shook her head in doubt and put the saber away. How can I be a Jedi if I don't even know what one does? Perhaps she would seek out the Jedi Academy. It would change things, yes, but would it be for the good? 

Not knowing what to do anymore then she had when the old woman had first given her the news, Nelkf fell asleep. 


	27. why you never B&E with a smuggler and a ...

**Dark Shadows**  


She was awakened by her arm being shaken. Jax voice came through her sleep. 

"Nelkf! Nel! Get up!" 

"What? Where?" They were by some kind of shop. The door stood open, spilling a narrow column of white into the darkness. "Jax, where are we?" 

"Shhhhhh! Close your eyes! You don't want them to see us, do you?" 

Nelkf obediently shut her glowing eyes. "What's happening?" 

"Shhhhhh!" 

"Stop 'shhhh-ing'. You sound like a snake! First you tell me to shut my eyes, then I have to be quiet. Either tell me what's going on or I'll open these glowing specs of mine and find out for myself." 

"Rakson's goons." 

Nelkf made her voice as silent as possible. "What are they doing?" 

"Ransacking Ky's place. They're trying to find us." 

Nelkf gasped. "No," she whispered, "me." 

"Stop going all weird and freaking out like that!" 

"I can't help it, it's true. They know we're here." 

"Whuuuuh?" Cail began to sit up. 

"Quiet, the goons." 

Cail hushed his voice. "My head feels like zuxu got inside and got mad. Where are we?" 

"Ky's place." 

"Did they get her?" 

"I guess so." 

"Will somebody please tell me what they're doing now?" 

"Leaving." 

"Can I open my eyes yet?" 

"Not just yet, lantern specs." 

"Now?" Nelkf asked a moment later. 

"Sure." 

Nelkf flicked her eyes open. The door still stood ajar, and curiosity pricked at her mind. No one seemed to be around. "Let's go in." 

Cail remained ducked low in the speeder. "I agree. Oooooo. Remind me never to go into another cantina again. My head is splitting." 

Jax ignored his younger companion. "Are you going to use the lightsaber, Nel?" 

She shrugged. "I have to learn sometime how to handle the thing. Why not now?" she ignited the green shaft with a snap-hiss. The relaxing hum filled the air. 

Cail hopped out of the speeder, followed by Jax and Nelkf. "That saber," Cail pointed to the weapon in the Sklinth's hands. "It matches your eyes, you know. It's like it's always been yours." 

"Yes," Nelkf nodded. "but I don't think it was. This is all just a big mistake. At least I hope it is." Then again, the old woman did use my last name. Hell, there's probably a billion Karlians from a million different species all over the Galaxy. Aren't there? Nelkf looked to the skies, but her own star, the star Necho, was just another spot in the thousands dotting the sky. Just like she was only one being in a Galaxy of others. But someday, she hoped there would be those who would know of her, and be able to know she was out there, just as she knew her star was there. 

Cail seemed to grow impatient. "Well? Are we standing around or moving? Ky said she has something here that'll matter to me. If she's gone, I should get it." 

"And we'll need to see if we can fix up this speeder enough to get us back to Mos Eisley." Jax reminded him. 

"Why?" Nelkf wanted to know. 

Jax grinned, his gray eyes looked pale green in the saber's light. Nelkf thought that was as it should be. "You want to get off this dust-ball, don't you?" 

Nelkf smiled, but not too broadly. "I guess you're right." It was odd for her to be finding that Jax, a Human, was being right more then she was. 

The trio entered the small house adjoining the garage, Nelkf's eyes and lightsaber showing the way. The Sklinth decided to try something she had been thinking about. She sent her mind deep, down, into the floor, searching for life. It wasn't too effective, Nelkf had no idea how to use the Force. But if there was any danger, she would feel it. Nelkf inhaled, softly. She could feel something. It was like the whisper of a wraith in her ear. She couldn't understand it, but it most definitely was there. 

Nelkf shook her head. No, she wasn't able to understand the Force just yet. Cail seemed to not notice her concentration. He tapped her on the shoulder with the handle of a blaster. 

"Mind telling me if it's okay to talk yet?" he whispered. "My head hurts and I don't want to give us away if there are still people here." 

Nelkf didn't know. She glanced into Cail's eyes, looking for something again. They were still glazed over with the remnants of intoxication, but other then that, they were fine. Nelkf wasn't so sure she should say anything until Jax put his hand on her shoulder. He understood this power, this whisper. Well, maybe not understood it, but knew it was there. Yes, now she was sure. It was safe. Maybe they weren't alone, but they were safe. "It's okay, Cail. You can talk." 

Cail raised his eyebrows in a hopeful gesture. "Can I lie down on the couch?" 

Why was he asking? It wasn't like the couch was booby-trapped! Cail was one of the strangest people Nelkf had ever met. One of. "I don't see why not." 

Jax nodded. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure that Ky won't mind. An addict on her couch is the last of her worries right now, I think." 

Cail flopped down on the couch and buried his face in the cushions. "Ow." he muttered. "Owch, owch, owch, owch, owch. I am in pain." 

"Does your head really hurt?" 

"Absolutely." 

Nelkf was confused. Humans were supposed to react strangely to alcohol. Just as Sklinths were supposed to die. "then why aren't you all groggy and weird?" 

"I am," Cail told her. "I'm just used to it by now, so it doesn't bother me as much. Of course," Cail made a sound that was as close as Nelkf had ever heard a Human come to a growl. "this is one of the worse hangovers I've had in days." 

"Days?" Nelkf knew Cail was an addict, but she hadn't thought the condition was this bad. "Not months or weeks, but days?" 

Jax muttered something behind her. "Do you understand how he usually is now?" 

"Stop it," Nelkf hissed. Jax was acting as if Cail was some sort of animal! "before I ram this lightsaber into your rib-cage." 

Cail started to laugh hysterically. Nelkf ignored him. Jax shot Cail a look, and the addict just managed to shut up. "Hey, glitbiter, this doesn't involve you. You're not participating in this conversation, okay?" 

That just tore it for Nelkf. Jax couldn't be that nasty to a friend of hers. Not while she was around. "Okay," she snarled, pointing the lightsaber towards Jax's chest. "Look smuggler..." 

"Oohoohoohoo!" Cail howled, just out of Jax's fist range. 

"I've just about had it with you and your remarks on Cail," Nelkf hissed, her accent turning the whole statement into something equal to a declaration of war. "If your head were as quick as your mouth-" 

"Whoaoooo! That's two versus zero!" 

"You'd figure out that's just how he is! He can't help it!" Nelkf finished. 

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Cail stomped his feet on the floor in rhythm. "Now your turn to insult her, Jax! Fight! Fight! Fight!" 

"You keep out of this!" Jax growled, pointing at Cail. The addict whistled innocently and looked towards the ceiling. 

"Now, look, Nel," Jax started calmly. "I don't have to be saving your tail all the time." 

"Oh-ho!" Cail resumed laughing. "Nice one! Nice one!"

"And you know that if it wasn't for me, those goons would have you for whatever reason the Imps do, which I don't know, because you won't tell me!" 

Cail stopped laughing and blinked in surprise. "Run that by me again? I heard no logical train of thought." 

Both the Sklinth and the Human turned to glare at their eye-marked friend. "Will you stop it?" they demanded in unison. 

Cail fell backwards on the couch laughing. Nelkf and Jax exchanged curious glances and watched their younger companion. Cail continued to laugh, a victim of total humor and showing no signs of recovering. 

Suddenly, the sheer stupidity of the argument finally got to them. They began to snicker, then laugh out loud. Soon all three were in a fit of hysterics. Eventually, the two managed to regain sanity enough to sit down. Nelkf looked Jax in the eyes, not searching. Just looking and reflecting. Now we know we love each other, she thought. We've had our first major argument, and neither of us cares. 

The Sklinth stood up, ending the foolish time. "Now I think we should look around. We may be able to find parts enough to fix the speeder. I'll take the upstairs." 

Jax volunteered secondly. "I don't know what you expect to find upstairs, but I'll take the garage. Then again, you may find some credits." 

Nelkf glared at him. "Don't steal anything!" 

Jax drew back in an expression of mock horror. "Steal? Me? I'm hurt you would suggest such a thing. I'm a smuggler! Illegal is what I do!" 

Cail raised his hand. "Hey, me too!" 

Nelkf put her hands on her hips. "Not I, said the Sklinth! But try to hold back on the robbery for a bit?" 

"Why?" Cail asked. 

Nelkf sighed. "Just..do whatever. Cail, it looks like you've got the downstairs." 

"Oh, that's just dandy for me!" he said cheerfully. 

"Okay, ready?" she shut off the lightsaber and clipped it to her belt. "Let's go!" 


	28. more Force-related lameness

**Dark Shadows**  


The three had hardly been separated fifteen minutes when Jax's voice rang through the house. "Hey, guy, I think I've found the parts we need. Could I get a hand in here?" 

Nelkf bounded down the stairs and nearly crashed into Cail in the main room. She noticed he had something in his hand just before he hid it behind his back. 

"What did you take?" she asked, trying to see around him. 

Cail moved so she couldn't see behind him. "Nothing," he replied calmly. 

"Cail," she unsheathed her lightsaber and held it menacingly. She held out a hand. "Give it here." 

Cail moved nose to nose with her. "You wouldn't kill me." 

Nelkf was about to reply that blood on her hands was not a problem, but then her sensitive nose smelt that smell on his breath. "Cail!" 

"What?" 

"You're drinking again!" she hissed. 

"No, I'm not." 

"I can smell it." 

"Uhhh...it's your imagination." 

"Then what's behind your back?" 

Cail rolled his eyes in thought. "Paper starfighters?" he asked hopefully. 

Nelkf looked at him coldly. "Give it too me. You're not supposed to have that." 

"No way. It's mine." 

"It belongs to Ky's family." 

"Well, the Imps got Ky, and she said she left me something, maybe this is it." 

Nelkf hissed, feeling the thin line of fuzz along her back rise in anger. "How much of that did you drink anyway?" 

"Uh..just a little." 

"You're lying." 

"No, I'm not." 

"Yes you are!" Nelkf was beginning to lose her patience. 

"I'm only taking a few creative liberties." 

"And what's that supposed to mean?" 

Just then, Jax appeared. "Nel, I asked for a hand..." his voice trailed off as he saw the half-empty bottle in Cail's hands. Cail only grinned sheepishly. Jax turned to Nelkf. "Told you." 

"He stole it!" she protested. In her culture, that was punishable by the Labyrinth. 

Jax shook his head, not wishing to get involved in another argument. Cail just looked at her curiously, wondering what she would do now. 

Nelkf threw up her arms in disgust. "Oh, forget it! You're both impossible." 

Cail seemed to snicker. Nelkf was debating whether or not anyone would care if Cail walked away from here with a broken leg. No, she finally decided. He's your friend, and you don't get your friends hospitalized. At least not on purpose. 

"If you two are finished," Jax said with a sigh, "I still need a hand with these parts in the garage." 

"Why are you always in such a rush?" Cail wondered. 

Nelkf hissed at him, managing to keep her temper under control and still sound angry. "Because those goons will figure out we're here eventually. Notice they're a step ahead of us and head back." 

Jax nodded. "Right, and we have to see if we can get out of here in the few minutes between the time they're coming here and we're going away. Okay?" 

Cail lowered his eyes. "Okay." he muttered. 

The three friends headed into the garage, still a little uneasy. It was hard to walk about calmly in a place where a friend once was, until kidnapped by a devious adversary. Even the Sklinth found herself slightly jittery. 

Jax stopped by an open crate of parts that Nelkf could make neither tails nor heads of. "Here," Jax said, giving the box a swift kick. "These are the parts we need to patch up the Casino." 

Nelkf moved around the front of the box. "Need a help lifting it?" she asked. 

Jax nodded. "That was the general idea." 

Nelkf gripped the sides of the crate, wishing for the thousandth time in her life that her species had claws. Jax did likewise. "Come one Cail," he called. "Aren't you going to help us out?" 

Cail sighed and then he too, crammed his hands beneath the box and began to lift. 

All three strained, the box moved just a little. Nelkf and Jax looked at each other. Yes! They just might be able to lift it. 

The Sklinth's muscles were being strained, and her lungs felt as if at any moment they would implode. The box lifted a little more.... 

At last, the box crashed back to the floor. All three gasped, trying to regain their breath. Their muscles ached, their lungs seemed to be on fire, their fingertips felt as if they were being burned by acid. It was no use. The box was too heavy. 

Cail shook his head. "Guys, there's no way we can lift this." 

Jax raised his eyes to Nelkf. She could tell what was meant in them. The problem was, could they get away with it? Yes, he thought they could. But did she? 

A strange smile crept across her face. Maybe they could. She looked towards Cail. "I don't know. We might be able to." 

"Nelkf, are you sure you want to try this?" Jax asked. "I mean, the Force is supposed to be dangerous when you aren't trained with it, right?" 

Cail looked from one to the other as if they were insane. "Force? Nel, Jax, have you both lost your minds completely? There's no such thing!" 

The Sklinth narrowed her eyes into dark green slits. "We're going to find out about that." 

Jax put his hands back on the crate. "Let's get on with this." he said calmly. 

Nelkf, too, placed her hands on the top of the box. "Now we're going to see exactly what we can do with this Force thing." She turned to face Cail. "Are you going to help?" 

Cail looked puzzled. "Me?" 

Nelkf nodded. "I think you can. Jax can, and no one had to give him a lightsaber and tell him." 

"Yeah, I might have found out sooner or later. Nelkf, I don't think she would have." Jax told him. 

Cail shrugged and put his hands on top of the box as well. "This'll never work." 

"Neither will your brain unless you give it a try," Nelkf hissed. 

Jax glared at her. "Quite making wisecracks and concentrate, Nel." 

Alright, don't worry, I will. The Sklinth shut her eyes and focused on the crate's image in her mind. "Picture it," she whispered. 

A moment later, Jax's voice replied back. "Think it." 

Nelkf thought of the box, lifting. As if she had placed her hands underneath it. As if her hands were stronger then any three of them together. "Lift it," she whispered softly. 

Cail shook his head, he didn't think it would work. But as Nelkf and Jax told him what to do, he could begin to see exactly what they meant. Maybe he could lift it... 

Again, the box began to lift, but slowly this time. The three were surprised, and their concentration almost broke, but someone -none of them knew who- hissed not to loose the image. The box stayed in the air, and stepping silently around, they managed to guide the box out into the night air. Not one of them noticed that they were holding their breath. 

"In the speeder," Jax instructed. It was uncertain whether or not he was talking to the box or them. "in the speeder." 

In an instant, the crate dropped into the speeder. All three opened their eyes and looked at each other in puzzlement. Nelkf shuddered and felt as if she was going to faint again. No, she snarled at herself. Not again. Not if you expect to be Jedi you don't. How can you train if every time you use the Force you go faint? Now get a hold of yourself! She managed to keep herself from blacking out. 

Jax turned to her and shook his head. "Nelkf, I think we should go to Yavin Four." 

She nodded solemnly. "Yeah," she said, at a loss for words. "yeah, I think we should." 

Cail blinked and looked more baffled then he had ever before. "Did we-" he said, unable to figure out how the event that had just happened, happened. 

"Use the Force?" Nelkf suggested. 

Cail simply nodded. "Did I-?" 

"Use the Force too?" Jax put in. 

"Uh, yeah." 

Nelkf shook her head. "I don't know. I don't know if those were your Force powers. But, yeah, you did use the Force, essentially." 

Cail shook his head. "No," he laughed. "I don't think I did. Nah." 

Jax motioned towards the speeder. "We've got to get moving. We need to be able to get the Casino patched up before those goons catch up to us." 

Nelkf nodded. "Right. Then to Yavin Four." 


	29. as cial proves he is indeed a manic depr...

**Dark Shadows**  


The docking bay was darker then either Cail or Jax had ever seen it. Only the dim, flickering lights were keeping the town from abject darkness. 

Jax worked under the greasy yellow lights, totally unaware of the whispering scratch of the night dwellers running from shadow to shadow. It had taken him nearly an hour to repair the armor. He hadn't realized how intense the damage had been. If Nelkf had used the common sense she seemed to have acquired now, they might have been out of here by now! Well, at least he was almost done now. 

Nelkf noticed Cail hadn't been helping them much. In fact, the boy seemed to have been moping around. What was wrong, she wondered. "Hey, glitbiter," she called curiously. "Want to give us a hand, maybe?" 

Cail shook his head. "No, I don't think so." 

"What's eating you?" Jax asked his friend. "You're not even making wisecracks. That isn't like you." 

"Nothing." Cail lied. When he caught the nasty looks from both Nelkf and Jax, he decided to tell them. "Well, it's just that you guys are going off all over the Galaxy and I'm going to be stuck behind. There isn't much a guy can do around here with no friends and-" 

"Do you want to come with us?" Nelkf asked. 

"What?" Jax looked at her as if she were crazy. 

"What?" so did Cail. 

Nelkf ignored Jax. "I think you should come with us to Yavin. Even if it isn't your Force powers you were able to use, you did use the Force. You could be trained as a Jedi, I think." 

Jax shook his head. "You're making a mistake, Nel. I'm telling you." 

"I think not, Jax." she growled. "Come on, Cail. You can come." 

Cail looked puzzled. "Are you serious?" 

Jax seemed to be asking her the same question. "He's your friend too," she hissed at him. "I think you know that. You can't be so dark." 

"You should be one to talk!" Jax replied quickly. But there was no contempt in his words. 

"I'll help," Cail said quickly. "I'll help work on the Casino, I won't get in the way-" 

Jax shook his head. "If you keep your hands off the Casino's wiring, I think we may be able to let you come." 

Nelkf smiled. She knew he wasn't serious. Soon all three of them would be heading towards Yavin four. Perhaps the Galaxy wasn't such an unfair place after all. 

Then, the Sklinth heard the spattering sound of a blaster bolt hitting something in the darkness. "Jax," she asked, afraid to know if her hearing was correct, "did you hear..?" 

"Oh no," The smuggler muttered. "Not again." 

Another bolt was snapped off in the darkness, this time, illuminating the bay slightly red. Another soon followed it, closer still. 

"Maybe they don't know we're here?" Nelkf suggested. 

"Sklinth, don't you dare say that." Jax practically threatened. "Don't ever think that they don't know we're here. Don't you dare." 

"Why?" Nelkf asked. 

A blaster bolt spanged just to the left of them, showing where they were. All three ducked down to avoid the following blast. "That," Jax told her. "is why you never should think that. Now come on, get in the ship!" 

"You two find yourselves in firefights often?" Cail asked calmly. 

"Only recently, glitbiter." Nelkf muttered, dodging into the Casino. "Only recently, and never again." 

Inside the ship, the shots seemed distant. An illusion Nelkf wished more then ever was true. Cail was less then three paces behind her. She didn't blame him. Nobody wanted to be caught out in a firefight. Cail was much more frightened then he let on, apparently. Nelkf didn't know how she knew it, she just did. This frightened her, too. 

Jax's hands moved quickly over the controls. It seemed as if he didn't even need to look at them to know what they did. "Nel," he said, his eyes not even shifting from the dashboard. Nelkf could hear the engines starting up, the life systems coming on. "There's a switch someplace in the back that controls the sound control on the Casino. Shut it off." 

"What?" Nelkf looked at him in disbelief. 

"Nel, trust me!" 

"Jax, you've got to be crazy-" 

"Nelkf, if you don't shut off the noise control, we won't get out of here, so shut the controls off." When Nelkf showed no signs of complying, Jax snapped the same instructions at Cail, who obeyed. How could he know that would deafen every being for twenty meters? Nelkf wondered what it would be like to lose her hearing... 

The sound of the engines grew deafening outside the ship. The attackers dropped their weapons and covered their ears in a futile attempt to drown out the awful din. People six blocks away awoke from their beds wondering what in the name of all that is, was, and forever will be sacred could be making that horrific noise! 

But inside the Casino, the sound was only slightly louder. Nelkf dropped her hands from her ears in puzzlement. "How-?" she began to ask. 

Jax grinned. "The Casino's been modified to give the people outside her and earful and the people inside a clean get away." 

Nelkf shook her head. "You're going to keep proving me wrong until I'm convinced that Humans aren't stupid, aren't you? It's not nice to alter a being's instinctive beliefs, Jax." 

"Speaking of getaways," Cail cut in, "shouldn't we be making ours while we can?" 

Jax nodded and the Casino gently lifted up. "Right. Put the noise control back in place, Cail. We're outta this interstellar dust bath." 

Once more, the Galaxy Casino left Tatooine behind. This time, she would not return. 


	30. pretty planet n.n

**Dark Shadows**  


Yavin four was very different as compared to how Nelkf had pictured it. She had thought it would be a calm, country like world with little towns on the horizon and small ships coming and going at their leisure. It had never once crossed her mind that it might be a jungle world, very similar to her own. 

Her eyes widened as she saw it. From space, it looked almost exactly like the eastern hemisphere of Exlan twelve, save the absence of the great Eastern Sea. She was going to enjoy this world, if it were anything like home! 

Cail had never seen so much greenery together in his entire life. Instantly, he felt as if he should be running to warn someone that this much water was being put to waste, but he restrained himself. It wasn't waste here, it was exactly as it should be. There was life here, more then just a few bantha herds, some dewbacks and kryt dragons! There would be more interesting small creatures here then the plain old thumpers and womp rats! The plants were a whole other category! Cail wondered if he could ever hope to learn even a quarter of their names, but he didn't care. He was going to like this. 

Jax had been to many worlds in the Galaxy, but he had never been on one like Yavin four. There had been no trade on worlds like this, but he had always wanted to see one. He wanted to see the mountains, the temples. A smuggler was not allowed to stay and see the sights of a world, but Jax was no longer a smuggler. He was going to see this entire world. He was going to like it here. 

The comm system came, unbidden, alive. Jax replied to it swiftly, identifying them and why they were here. The being at the other end gave them directions -of all the strange things. No docking bay number, but directions- to the Great Temple and a place they could land. All three were overcome with curiosity. What would this be like? 


	31. why is everyone here so much more well d...

**Dark Shadows**  


A moment later, Jax, Nelkf and Cail stood at the ramp of the Casino, looking around them, expecting someone to have come greet them. For some reason, they had pictured some sort of formal greeting. Come to think of it, that doesn't make much sense. These are Jedi, not diplomats. 

At last, a pretty blue lizard creature bounded towards them. Only her face and hands peered through the robe that hung awkwardly around her odd frame. Her scales reflected unevenly in the light. It was dawn here, and the gas giant Yavin was tinting the skies red and orange. The lizard dipped her head slightly and smiled. "Hello," she said, blinking a very strange looking set of doubly slit eyes. "Welcome to the Jedi Academy. My name is Kaolin." 

"Hello," Nelkf said cautiously. "I'm Nelkf, and this is Jax, and this is Cail." 

"You want to become Jedi?" 

"That's why we're here." 

Kaolin nodded. "You think you can make it?" she asked. "Not everyone has what it takes." 

Jax grinned. "Thanks for the warning, but I think we can make it." 

Kaolin smiled, as much as a lizard can be said to smile. Nelkf wondered for a moment why Kaolin had not asked if they had Force powers, but caught herself. Why would they be here otherwise? And couldn't a Jedi sense the Force in others? Now that Nelkf thought of it, that would have been even a more pointless question then asking the lizard if she had fur! 

"It's good to hear that. I don't know if Master Skywalker is here right now, but we'll get you introduced to him as soon as we can." Kaolin said. "Follow me, I'll see if I can get you introduced to some of the other students." 

Nelkf, Jax and Cail exchanged glances, but followed Kaolin into the Great Temple without asking any questions. 

The Temple was big from the outside, but that was nothing as compared to the inside. One would expect the halls to be the size of a normal buildings', but by Nelkf's standards, a Sklinthi building could fit into one of these hallways. It was really not that they were tall, but wide. The Sklinth figured at least seven people could fit across it, and still have room for a smaller being. 

The sides of the walls were so smooth, not so much as an insect could have caught purchase. All three marveled. Had the workers, or years of curious hands rubbing against the stone smoothed these walls? This was not called the Great Temple simply because it was the largest. It was an amazing place, undoubtable different from the others on this world. Incredible, the trio's minds whispered. 

The hallway opened up into a room in which the Sklinth's nose could smell food. Nothing was being eaten here now, but her systems could wait. So long as they had things here with high concentrates of vitamin C, she could survive. 

Some long wooden benches and tables sat helter-skelter about the chamber. There were few beings here now, and they seemed to be speaking amongst themselves. 

One Human with brown hair turned to look over her shoulder and notice them there. Turning back around, she tapped the shoulder of one of her companions and stood up. The Human came towards them quickly, grinning. Her companion followed her. Kaolin introduced them. "Jax, Nelkf, Cail, this is Meda, one of the newer students. Like yourselves." 

Meda smiled kindly. "Hi." she said. When her companion said nothing, she elbowed him sharply in the ribs. The other looked as if he was going to say something nasty to her, but restrained himself. "Yeah, hi." he said softly. 

"This is Victo," Meda told them. "Hard to believe we're both from the same planet. Victo's a shy one, aren't you?" she shoved Victo roughly, but he did not seem to enjoy the motion. 

"Yeah, right." he said nearly silently. 

Kaolin clapped a claw on Jax's shoulder. "Meda will show you where your rooms are. Don't hesitate to look around. Either Streen or Master Skywalker will find you sooner or later." 

"Thanks," Jax said, nodding. "Thanks for showing us this far Kaolin." 

"Oh, don't mention it," the lizard said, preparing to go. "I enjoyed making your acquaintance. I guess I'll see you around then. So long friends." 

Cail looked puzzled as Kaolin left. "I didn't know," he said, watching the being go, "That there could be all different kinds of Jedi." 

Meda laughed. "Then you've got a lot to learn, pal." 

"Meda," Nelkf asked, "what planet are you and Victo from?" Immediately she felt foolish. The question had nothing to do with the conversation, and Meda had thought they would know. But Nelkf had always assumed Humans stuck to one or two planets. Apparently this was not so. Nelkf was getting quite annoyed with her ignorance of the Human race. 

The young Jedi looked at the Sklinth, seeming to be just about as puzzled as Nelkf on why she had asked that question. The Sklinth thought the Human looked almost exactly the same as she did, save Nelkf's tail and her glowing eyes. Their hair was the same shade of brown, and they were exactly the same height. Nelkf felt as if she was looking into a mirror. It was so strange, Meda was at least seven years younger then Nelkf, but they looked exactly alike. 

"Actually," Meda said, "I was going to ask you the same question." 

Both the Sklinth and the Human laughed. "Corellia," Meda said, holding out her hand. 

Nelkf shook it. "Exlan twelve, nice to meet you." Again, both beings laughed. 


	32. and we have some dreaded and long awaite...

**Dark Shadows**  


Soon, the three travelers had their rooms assigned, Nelkf in a different temple then the Jax or Cail. She had had to wait some time before Streen came to greet her. 

"Welcome to the Jedi Academy," the old Jedi said. It was strange, Nelkf found herself seeing Streen as someone not over thirty, despite his gray beard and hair. "Nelkf Karlian, is that your name?" 

"Yes, it is, and thank you for welcoming me, but I know something that is going to matter tremendously to the New Republic." 

Streen's ears seemed to prick up, a Human impossibility. "then we'll be sure to warn them. What is it?" 

"Lekan," she said. "It's a rim world. A escort mission vanished there just a short time ago." Streen waited patiently for her to finish. "I was one of the pilots on that mission. I was shot down on Lekan, and I'll tell you this. There's much more on Lekan then a few mountain dwellers." 

"What do you mean?" the Jedi asked. 

"There's an Imperial prison there, one that we didn't know about. There are sentients there being used for lab tests, and their only crimes were passing through that system too close to the planet." she inhaled sharply, not noticing until then that she had not taken a breath since she began talking. 

Streen nodded calmly. "Nelkf, you don't know how many lives you've probably just saved. I'll get the word out as soon as I can." The Jedi stood up swiftly and turned towards the door. "Nelkf, you've done good." 

For a moment, Nelkf was silent. Streen was almost gone when she thought to call him back. "Streen?" 

Streen turned around in the doorway. 

"My droid," Nelkf began, feeling foolish. "R2 unit named Slek. He's there. Could you maybe see if they could get him back for me?" 

Streen laughed. "I'll see what I can do, Nelkf." 

Nelkf glanced around her, at the lightsaber clipped to her belt, to the coin around her neck. At the smooth stone walls, at the hard bed. Soon there would be a Jedi robe added to the few possessions she now had. But there was no mistaking it, Nelkf was meant to be here. 


End file.
